Includes bibliographical references (p. 439-448) and index.

"In the autumn of 732, two great armies, one Christian and one Muslim, faced off on the central plains of France in an epic battle that would define European history. According to what we've always been told, Charles Martel, the leader of the Franks, saved Christianity from Islam and stopped the barbaric Muslim juggernaut from advancing beyond Spain." "Not so, says David Levering Lewis, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, who recasts this Battle of Poitiers in a wholly new light. In chronicling the four-hundred-year period of Muslim rule in Europe, an era that began with the surprise assault on Gibraltar by Berber forces in 711 and concluded with the rout of Muslim forces after the fall of Toledo in 1085, Lewis challenges many of the preconceptions that have dominated traditional history. In doing so, he presents a compelling narrative that puts Muslim Spain - and its rich, vibrant heritage - back into the very heart of European politics and culture."-JACKET.