Acquire Andalus: Unlocking The Secrets Of Moorish Spain Authored By Jason Webster Shown In Manuscript

writing in respect of the Moorish influences on Spain and with a contemprary twist in the friendship with Zine the illegal migrant from Morocco.
. some very bad things going on in the south spain in terms of the exploitation of foreign workers ! I did worry that zine was a bit exaggerated but good story no matter if that is the case as he used it to shine a light on modern contradictions ! He revealed the extent of denial of moorish influence although i did find the linkages to be a bit generalised at times ! Some really good history tho ! Absolutely fascinating, uncovering aspects of modern Spain and its' relationship to its' past that are not immediately apparent.
This book was OK. The author's premise is that Spanish culture is imbued with Moorish influences from its long occupation by Arabs, but that this is denied or concealed today.
So he sets off on a road trip to discover the "hidden treasures", I had a couple of problems with this, Just how "hidden" is a Moorish influence that has produced the Alhambra, Seville's Alcazar, Cordoba's Great Mosque, and many other major monuments He also spends a lot of time pointing out the numerous words in Spanish that have Arabic roots, but you can't spend long learning Spanish without becoming aware of this.
At times his journey seems aimless it's not always clear why he picks the places that he does, and some of the people he meets sound as if they might have interesting things to say, but he doesn't really dig deep enough.
He's no Paul Theroux or Colin Thubron,

At the beginning of the book he meets Zine, an illegal Moroccan immigrant who is effectively doing slave labour on a fruit farm in Almería.
Together they escape from a shotgunwielding farmer and set off to explore Spain and find Zine another job.
I couldn't help feeling he'd made Zine up, or at least heavily embroidered his story, It was just too convenient having him there to represent the position of the Moor in Spanish society today at the bottom of the pile, if you hadn't figured that out.
There are other points in the book that seem too handily symbolic too, and it's not particularly well written.


On the positive side, he has a good summary of how the Arabs reintroduced Greek thought and Arab science, mathematics, and medicine into Europe after the Dark Ages, and of how Ferdinand and Isabella later shot themselves in the foot by expelling Jews and Muslims from Spain.
This was a great book to read while spending time in southern Spain, Webster explores the remnants of the ancient Moorish culture on the Iberian peninsula, and takes as his companion a young illegal Moroccan immigrant.
Interesting but very unevenly written As an Arab who had traveled to Spain many times, I couldn't help but notice the Arabic influence in Spanish culture.
I was hoping this book would provide more depth, but sadly I was disappointed on that front, Outside of mere observations of buildings, food, words that anybody familiar with Arabic culture would make while travelling through Spain there isn't much more to this book.
However despite my disappointment, I still enjoyed reading the book, I felt like I was travelling through somebody else's eyes to places I have so much enjoyed passing through myself.
The book brought back many happy memories, Met veel plezier gelezen. Ondanks zijn achtergrond als Arabist kan ik uit het verhaal niet herleiden of de feiten die hij aanhaalt voor de Moorse invloed op Spanje op echte wetenschap gebaseerd zijn.
Neemt niet weg dat als dat niet zo is, ik zijn beschreven reis interessant en leuk vond, om eens meer na te denken over de identiteit en gevoeligheden van Spanje maar ook het Westen vs het Oosten.
Quite unexpected and really unintentional read, Apparently too much those recent days of music by Eduardo Paniagua and Carles Magraner, . .
Worth a while but nothing thrilling, sometime quite boring if not irritating that Modern Moor!,
But as a source of Google Maps planning for visiting one day that Moorish Spain pretty useful and inspiring.
Whole chapter on Belmonte Marranos and Samuel Schwarz worth even of double read! Easy read

It was an easy read with some interesting notions.
Personally didn't feel like much of the associations of language etc were explored in depth and I'm left feeling like I've skirted a topic rather than explored it.
The ending to this book is so poignant, not what I was expecting, but is so fitting for the end of this unusual book.
I struggle to define it, Its partmemoir, parttravel book, partArabic history, partlanguage, and ALL Spain, As usual with Jason Webster, Spain comes alive off every page,
Here he travels around Spain looking for the Moorish heritage just beneath the skin of this modern country.
And he finds it in abundance, in places he did not expect, and sometimes in uncomfortable circumstances, He goes on a road trip with Zine, a Moroccan in Spain illegally, but who gives Webster and insight into Spain through Arabic eyes.

Webster handles his subject confidently, he is an Arabic speaker after all, though sometimes there was a fraction too much history for me.
But always Zines story, his romantic adventures, his excitement, his depressions, kept me reading, The dislike of some Spaniards to their Moorish history made me feel uncomfortable, highlighting the chequered history Spain has had with its invaders from Visigoths and Romans to Moors.
Webster visits one Andalucían highlight after another, all places which feature on the wish list of any foreign visitor to Southern Spain Granadas Alhambra, Córdobas Mesquita, Sevillas Alcázar plus Moorish outposts in the north too such as Toledo and Barcelona.

But the end of the story is in Casablanca, with Zine,
jason Webster, who speaks Arabic and Spanish and has a Spanish wife, starts off on his journey around Spain with the idea thatyears of Moorish identity must have left many traces in Spain beyond the obvious ones of architecture and language.
For many years this was suppressed the Moors had always been the enemy, the other, After the Reconquest in, they were first forced to convert and then expelled from Spain, Outro livro que comprei para pesquisa, Foi minha introdução à herança árabe da Península Ibérica, Como eu tinha sóanos na época, não entendi muito bem tudo que me foi passado, mas gostei.
Acho que merece uma releitura, Starts out very good and promising but then it is unsure what the author wants to tell, Interesting if you want to know something about Arab influence on Spanish language, This is a travelogue mostly suitable for those who are fascinated with the Andalucian history, It all started with La Llegenda del Moro Musa The Legend of Musa the Moor who was the richest, strongest and most powerful caliph who ever ruled in ancient Spain.
He lived on top of a mountain in a luxurious palace with golden domed roofs and minarets that touched the sky.
Seeing one day that Christian armies were advancing to conquer his lands, he decided to flee, but felt reluctant to leave his beautiful palace and all the riches he kept in it.
With the help of a jinn he hides his riches from the eyes of the infidels by turning everything into stone.


The author takes the message of the story: there were probably all kinds of disguised legacies of the Arab period in Spain, many of the unknown and unrecognized.
Finding them would require a new way of seeing, He then set for a journey in searh of Musa's treasure,

Many observations of cultural and linguistic nature is noted and presented in the from of a story alongside the adventure he has with Zine, his Moor friend.
If you are fascinated with Andalucia, like me,

this book provides many pointers to seek further,

This book end with a very personal account for both Jason and Zine, However, I can't help feeling an anticlimax after such a promising and ambitious beginning, Although it might give you a clue to just continue researching,

A quote in the end, "the secret legacy of AlAndalus Musa's treasure seemed to be disguised and halfforgotten, yet it was a symbol of hope that something of another time had survived a time when Muslims, Jews and Christians had shared the same spiritual spaceltigt" .