This dramatic family saga set in Muslim Spain evokes a past which has been hidden from history bringing to life the turbulent period following seven centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula. In this colourful sensual medieval world we read of book burnings and battles and meet preachers and bandits lovers and poets orthodox believers and cynical sceptics cooks and family retainers all living on the edge of a civilization about to be engulfed. Tariq Alis Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree is the first in a planned quartet of historical novels depicting the confrontation between Islamic and Christian civilisations. It has been translated into several languages and was awarded the Archbishop San Clemente del Instituto Rosalia de Castro Prize for the Best Foreign Language Fiction published in Spain in 1994. The second The Book of Saladin and the third The Stone Woman are also available from alhamra.