Called by “the most comprehensive survey of a magnificent era,” takes the reader on a journey through history, from 711 C.E. on the slopes of Gibraltar (when the Moslems conquered the Iberian peninsula) through the centuries of the flowering of Jewish culture, “The Golden Age of Spanish Jewry” and closes with the 11th century re-conquest of Spain. The books (Volume 1 and the combined Volumes 2/3) are peopled with soldiers and rabbinic scholars, viziers in the caliph’s court, poets and converts, courtiers and intellectuals.