“As opposed to his other classic work Western Views of Islam: The Making of an image, this time around the author wants to explore the unofficial view of Islam, that is what the lay people, mainly the chivalric class thought about the Saracens. The source material that is analyzed, as the title of the book implies are the medieval chanson du geste, and although is shows remarkable scholarship and in depth analysis, the book is more an inward view of the European chivalric class then the unofficial view of Islam that the author initially wants to pursue. For that the penultimate chapter, in which he discuses other literary or otherwise written products of the lay people, with common themes would have required a book in its own rights, as the author himself acknowledges”
Serj wrote this review Wednesday, May 6 2009.
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