Granada

A Pomegranate in the Hand of God

**“In poetic prose . . . Nightingale’s intimate reflections and succulent style present a textured picture of the city and its people, culture, and antiquity.” —**Publishers Weekly

Granada resident Steven Nightingale excavates the rich past of his adopted city and its surrounding countryside, finding there a lavish story of utopian ecstasy, political intrigue, and finally anguish. Medieval Granada witnessed a flourishing of poetry in several languages, the first modern translations of Greek philosophy, the birth of algebra, and the construction of architectural masterpieces such as the Alhambra and the Generalife. Yet with Ferdinand and Isabella’s sack of Granada in 1492, its centuries-old reputation as an artistically vital haven for multiple ethnic and religious groups began to erode

Nightingale’s own account of the region’s medieval zenith recovers the intellectual pageantry and aesthetic splendor of this astounding period in Western history and the marvelous city that was its cultural center.

“An exuberant and beautifully written book and as packed with information as a pomegranate is with seeds . . . Nightingale possesses a keen tactile sense of the place; his approach is refreshingly sensuous.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Not only a memoir of one family’s communion with a dream house, it’s the unearthing of a long-buried dream of civic harmony, a reawakening.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Armchair travel enthusiasts and those who are interested in Spanish and Islamic history will enjoy this tale.” —Library Journal

“An unabashed love song to Granada . . . a fascinating historical overview.” —Booklist