The Book Report Series:

( Dogs of God )

ABOUT DOGS OF GOD

From the acclaimed author of Warriors of Godcomes a riveting account of the pivotal events of 1492, when towering political ambitions, horrific religious excesses, and a drive toward international conquest changed the world forever.James Reston, Jr., brings to life the epic story of Spain’s effort to consolidate its own burgeoning power by throwing off the yoke of the Vatican. By waging war on the remaining Moors in Granada and unleashing the Inquisitor Torquemada on Spain’s Jewish and converso population, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella attained enough power and wealth to fund Columbus’ expedition to America and to chart a Spanish destiny separate from that of Italy. With rich characterizations of the central players, this engrossing narrative captures all the political and religious ferment of this crucial moment on the eve of the discovery of the New World.

The year Columbus sailed the ocean blue, 1492 was also the year that Moorish Granada fell to Catholic Spain and the year King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled the Spanish Jews. Reston brings together these three stories, showing how the exploration of the New World, the war against Muslims and the Inquisition were part of the monarchy’s attempt to purify the world for Christendom and advance the Spanish empire. The three threads were intertwined pragmatically as well as ideologically: Property confiscated from Jews and heretical Catholics went into the war chest that funded the march against the Moors. Jews who had converted to Christianity came under suspicion if they so much as set their table with a fresh tablecloth on Friday (the Inquisitor and his minions saw that as a sign that the converso might be observing the Jewish Sabbath), and Reston spares no detail when describing the atrocities the Inquisition committed against these suspects. This history is also distinguished by its vivid portrait of Queen Isabella (Ferdinand is not quite so well-developed), who emerges as a woman of deep faith and more than a hint of grandiosity, frequently likening herself to the Virgin Mary and the apocalyptic woman of the Book of Revelation. The most important sections chronicle Spain’s pursuit and conquest of Moorish land, from the fall of Málaga in 1487 to the seizing of Granada. The defeat of the Moors may seem like ancient history to Americans, Reston points out, but it is vivid indeed to the Islamic terrorists who bombed Madrid.

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Dads Review (TIFF 2019)

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