A centuries-old story with remarkable contemporary resonance, Blood and Faith is celebrated journalist Matthew Carr's riveting and "richly detailed" (Choice) chronicle of what was, by 1614, the largest act of ethnic cleansing in European history.

Months after King Philip III of Spain signed an edict in 1609 denouncing the Muslim inhabitants of Spain as heretics, traitors, and apostates, the entire Muslim population of Spain was given three days to leave Spanish territory, on threat of death. In the brutal and traumatic exodus that followed, entire families and communities were forced to abandon homes and villages where they had lived for generations, leaving their property in the hands of their Christian neighbors. By 1613, an estimated 300,000 Muslims had been removed from Spanish territory.

Blood and Faith presents a remarkable window onto a little known period of modern Europe-a complex tale of competing faiths and beliefs, cultural oppression, and resistance against over-whelming odds that sheds new light on national identity and Islam.


Author: Matthew Carr
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: New Press
Published: 07/05/2011
Pages: 368
Weight: 0.94lbs
Size: 8.26h x 5.55w x 0.98d
ISBN: 9781595586407

About the Author
Matthew Carr is a writer, broadcaster, and journalist and the author of The Infernal Machine: A History of Terrorism and the acclaimed memoir My Father's House. He lives in Derbyshire, England.