Children of Abraham

“This analysis reveals a complex history of coexistence, conflict and exchange that continues to influence global politics today.” —Financial Times

“Dazzling and dizzying ... a sweeping yet nuanced book.”

“Marc David Baer debunks pre­vail­ing myths regard­ing Jew­ish – Mus­lim rela­tions... Draw­ing on exten­sive research, Baer offers a more nuanced account.” 

“admirably even-handed”

“Unraveling a relationship that desperately needs unraveling. ... Illuminating.”—Kirkus

“This excellent history is illuminating and important—a revelatory picture of both coexistence and conflict of Muslims and Jews over a thousand years, a story so little known and totally relevant to our world today.”—Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem: The Biography

“A valuable and important study that offers powerful correctives to myths of perpetual antagonism and utopian coexistence across 1400 years of Jewish–Muslim relations. Professor Baer looks past the inequities of contemporary Palestine to root an awareness of encounters between Muslims and Jews in a historical context that, for the most part, shifted along a spectrum of mutual respect between tolerance and embrace. Drawing conclusions from the last century of violent confrontation, he pleads for a return to those half-forgotten legacies of understanding.”—Matthew Teller, author of Nine Quarters of Jerusalem

“A superb book that reminds us of the forgotten history of Jewish–Muslim collaborations, protections, alliances, and symbiosis going back hundreds of years. The common beliefs and similar rituals of Jews and Muslims makes them kissing cousins. A timely and urgent reminder for our battle-scarred times.”—Ziauddin Sardar, author of Mecca: The Sacred City