Stealing from the Saracens

Europeans are in denial. Against a backdrop of Islamophobia, they are increasingly distancing themselves from their cultural debt to the Muslim world. But while the legacy of Islam and the Middle East is in danger of being airbrushed out of Western history, its traces can still be detected in some of Europe’s most recognisable monuments, from Notre-Dame to St Paul’s Cathedral.

In this comprehensively illustrated book, Diana Darke sets out to redress the balance, revealing the Arab and Islamic roots of Europe’s architectural heritage. She tracks the transmission of key innovations from the great capitals of Islam’s early empires, Damascus and Baghdad, via Muslim Spain and Sicily into Europe. Medieval crusaders, pilgrims and merchants from Europe later encountered Arab Muslim culture in journeys to the Holy Land. In more recent centuries, that same route through modern-day Turkey connected Ottoman culture with the West, leading Sir Christopher Wren himself to believe that Gothic architecture should more rightly be called ‘the Saracen style’, because of its Islamic origins.

Recovering this overlooked story within the West’s long history of borrowing from the Islamic world, Darke sheds new light on Europe’s buildings and offers rich insights into the possibilities of cultural exchange.

A New Statesman Book of the Year 2020, chosen by William Dalrymple.

A BBC History Magazine Best Book of 2020.

‘An exhilarating, meticulously researched book that sheds light on centuries of borrowing, tracing the roots of Europe’s major buildings.’ – The Guardian

‘Another brilliant challenge to Islamophobes everywhere, skilfully telling the architectural counterpart of Moller’s tale, and showing how much Gothic architecture drew on the forms and innovations of Arab architects and mathematicians.’ – William Dalrymple in The Spectator

‘This persuasive study argues that northern Europe’s greatest gothic buildings are deeply indebted to the Arab world…[it is] a useful reminder of the interconnectedness of civilisation.’ – The Observer

‘[A] fascinating book. Revelatory [and] eye-opening.’ – Los Angeles Times

‘An extraordinarily ambitious work, part cri de coeur and part textbook on Islamic architecture and its influence on the West.’ – Times Literary Supplement