Stanley Lane-Poole (1854–1931)

The Story of the Moors in Spain is a history of the Moorish Empire in Andalusia,
chronicling the rise and fall of the Islamic empire, and with it the stymie of a
"civilized and enlightened State." Author Stanley Lane-Poole catalogues the art, architecture,
religion, science, and industry that flourished with the establishment of the Muslim regime in Spain.
A rare non-Christian history from the 19th century, students and researchers alike should cherish
this classic text, included here with original illustrations. Born in 1854 in London, England,
Stanley Lane-Poole was a British historian, orientalist, and archaeologist. Lane-Poole worked
in the British Museum from 1874 to 1892, thereafter researching Egyptian archaeology in Egypt.
From 1897 to 1904 he was a professor of Arabic studies at Dublin University… (mere)

Volume 2 was even worse than 1. At least with 1, I had an expectation that I might encounter something interesting or enlightening, only to be disappointed. With this volume, the reading experience began and ended with disappointment, with a whole lot of disappointment in between. I wish I could be more linquistically descriptive about this awful experience, but my theasaurus is used up for words standing in for garbage, immorality, uselessness, and vacuousness. You know what this was? The Biblical Tohu v'vohu, chaos and emptiness. Much, much emptiness.… (mere)

Though originally written and published over 125 years ago, The Story of the Moors in Spain by Stanley Lane-Poole is an quick, easy, and informative read. Although the book is not up to the scholarship standards of today, Lane-Poole uses the sources at his disposal along folklore, traditional Spanish ballads, and romantic history written by Washington Irving to produce a most engaging book. Lane-Poole always denoted in the text when he was going on either the folklore, ballads, or romantic history insertions for the reader as a way to bring history alive and when they were contrary to actual history he made note of it.

One of the biggest negatives of the book that one notices is that Lane-Poole engages in perpetuating the Black Legend that has tainted the perception of the Spanish since it's creation. At the beginning and ending of the text, Lane-Poole laments that the Spaniards decided to reject the civilization of the Islamic Moors for the backwardness of the Catholic (note I said Catholic not Christian) "crusaders" then points out certain incidents that prove his point. To be fair to Lane-Poole, one can not use today's standards to judge him and when a Christian showed "civilized" behavior and a Moor "uncivilized" he did point it out. However, there was always the perception that these incidents were few and far between.

Even with this negative to the text, The Story of the Moors in Spain is an excellent way to begin learning about the Islamic period on the Iberian peninsula. However this book should not be your last on the subject.… (mere)