Stealing from the Saracens traces the Arab and Islamic origins embedded in Europe's most recognisable architectural landmarks — from Notre-Dame Cathedral to the Houses of Parliament — recovering a history of cultural exchange that centuries of Islamophobia have worked to obscure.
About This Book
The Gothic arch, the pointed vault, the ornamental tracery of medieval cathedrals: Diana Darke argues that these defining elements of European architecture have deep roots in the Arab and Islamic world. Moving through the vibrant intellectual centres of Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo, and tracing transmission routes via Muslim Spain, Venice and Sicily, the book reconstructs how crusaders, pilgrims and merchants carried Arab Muslim ideas into the European built environment. It also examines Sir Christopher Wren's documented engagement with what he called the 'Saracen' style of Gothic architecture. This is architectural history as corrective — a rigorous reassessment of Islamic influence on Western heritage that is both scholarly and beautifully illustrated.
Key Features
- 480 pages of illustrated architectural and cultural history tracing Islamic design influence across European landmarks
- Published by Hurst Publishers, 2020
What You'll Discover
- How the pointed arch and other hallmarks of Gothic architecture have traceable precedents in Arab and Islamic building traditions
- The transmission routes — through Muslim Spain, Sicily and Venice — by which Middle Eastern architectural ideas entered European practice
- Sir Christopher Wren's engagement with the 'Saracen' style as a named influence on his understanding of Gothic architecture
- How contemporary Islamophobia has actively shaped the West's selective memory of its own architectural inheritance
About the Author
Diana Darke is a writer and Arabic specialist with extensive expertise in Middle Eastern culture, language and history. Her work focuses on the depth of cultural exchange between the Arab world and the West, and she has written widely on Syrian heritage and Islamic architecture.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 480
- Dimensions: 236 x 165mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781911723479
- Publisher: Hurst Publishers
- Publication Date: 2020
Perfect For: Architectural historians, scholars of Islamic art and design, practitioners interested in the cross-cultural origins of European architecture, and readers seeking a well-evidenced counter-narrative to Eurocentric architectural history.