This history of Spain in the period between the end of Roman rule and the time of the Arab conquest challenges many traditional assumptions about the history of this period.

• Presents original theories about how the Visigothic kingdom was governed, about law in the kingdom, about the Arab conquest, and about the rise of Spain as an intellectual force.
  
• Takes account of new documentary evidence, the latest archaeological findings, and the controversies that these have generated.
  
• Combines chronological and thematic approaches to the...

Roger Collins, a leading historian, investigates a time in Spanish history known for its multi-religious society - when Christians, Jews and Muslims lived in apparent harmony - revealing a fuller, more complex picture of this fascinating period.

• Presents new ideas and interpretations of a fascinating yet much misunderstood period of Spanish and Islamic history
• A broad and complex treatment of the tenure of the Umayyad dynasty in Spain
• Debunks myths and investigates the historiography of existing scholarship of the period