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Europe and the Islamic World sheds much-needed light on the shared roots of Islamic and Western cultures and on the richness of their inextricably intertwined histories, refuting once and for all the misguided notion of a "clash of civilizations" between the Muslim world and Europe. In this landmark book, three eminent historians bring to life the complex and tumultuous relations between Genoans and Tunisians, Alexandrians and the people of Constantinople, Catalans and Maghrebis--the myriad groups and individuals whose stories reflect the common cultural, intellectual, and religious heritage of Europe and Islam.Since the seventh century, when the armies of Constantinople and Medina fought for control of Syria and Palestine, there has been ongoing contact between the Muslim world and the West. This sweeping history vividly recounts the wars and the crusades, the alliances and diplomacy, commerce and the slave trade, technology transfers, and the intellectual and artistic exchanges. Here readers are given an unparalleled introduction to key periods and events, including the Muslim conquests, the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, the commercial revolution of the medieval Mediterranean, the intellectual and cultural achievements of Muslim Spain, the crusades and Spanish reconquest, the rise of the Ottomans and their conquest of a third of Europe, European colonization and decolonization, and the challenges and promise of this entwined legacy today.As provocative as it is groundbreaking, this book describes this shared history in all its richness and diversity, revealing how ongoing encounters between Europe and Islam have profoundly shaped both.John Tolan is professor of history at the Université de Nantes. His books include Saracens and Saint Francis and the Sultan. Gilles Veinstein is professor of history at the Collège de France. His books include Merchants in the Ottoman Empire. Henry Laurens is professor of history at the Collège de France. He is the author of L'empire et ses ennemis: La question impériale dans l'histoire.TABLE OF CONTENTS:Foreword by John L. Esposito viiGeneral Introduction 1Part I: Saracens and Ifranj: Rivalries, Emulation, and ConvergencesBy John Tolan1. The Geographers' World: From Arabia Felix to the Balad al-Ifranj (Land of the Franks) 112. Conquest and Its Justifications: Jihad, Crusade, Reconquista 273. The Social Inferiority of Religious Minorities: Dhimmis and Mudejars 494. In Search of Egyptian Gold: Traders in the Mediterranean 705. On the Shoulders of Giants: Transmission and Exchange of Knowledge 87Part II: The Great Turk and EuropeBy Gilles VeinsteinIntroduction to Part II: Continuity and Change in Geopolitics 1116. The Ottoman Conquest in Europe 1207. Ottoman Europe: An Ancient Fracture 1498. Antagonistic Figures 1639. The Islamic-Christian Border in Europe 18610. Breaches in the Conflict 206Part III: Europe and the Muslim World in the Contemporary PeriodBy Henry LaurensIntroduction to Part III 25711. The Eighteenth Century as Turning Point 25912. Civilization or Conquest? 27713. The Age of Reform 29514. The Age of Empire 32215. The First Blows to European Domination 33816. The Great War and the Beginning of Emancipation 36017. Contemporary Issues 387Notes 405Selected Bibliography 439Index 445Infos:2012 - $39.50 / £27.95 - ISBN: 9780691147055 - 528 pp.http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9829.html