cover image Two Faiths, One Banner: When Muslims Marched with Christians Across Europe's Battlegrounds

Two Faiths, One Banner: When Muslims Marched with Christians Across Europe's Battlegrounds

Ian Almond, . . Harvard Univ., $29.95 (246pp) ISBN 978-0-674-03397-9

Almond, an associate professor and Islamic specialist at Georgia State University, draws on a multitude of sources to create an alternate history of interactions between Christians and Muslims in Europe over 800 years, boldly concentrating on “unity and collaboration instead of friction and division.” His approach shows how Muslims were a vital and regular part of Europe and its true history, not the European history he believes is being “airbrushed” to exclude Jews and Muslims. Almond's examples prove his point; he cites Muslim and Christian sharing of languages, cultures and lifestyles throughout Europe, the use of Muslim-style florals and geometric design in European church architecture of the 13th century and, of perhaps the utmost significance, leaders who sought the aid of Muslim armies when their country was being invaded. Reports during the Crimean War testified to cooperation and even warmth between Christian and Muslim soldiers. Muslims were also on both sides in the battle for Constantinople in 1453. Even the Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683 has been overdramatized to create or emphasize a “clash of civilizations” paradigm. Almond chastises those who promote stereotypes—such as the “Terrible Turks”—and suggests that the goal of such government and media-propagated mythologizing is to use Muslims to distract from problems within modern-day society and governance. (Apr.)