Muslims and Jews have engaged one another -sometimes for better, sometimes for worse – for over 1,400 years. Yet recent discourse tends to focus on only the most antagonistic aspects of the two communities’ interactions. Marc David Baer paints a more nuanced picture of Muslim-Jewish relations, from Muhammad’s first interactions with Jewish Arabs in the seventh century and their shared struggles after the Spanish Reconquista to the ongoing modern conflict in the Middle East.

Free from the myths and counter-myths of earlier accounts, this is a timely and indispensable new analysis of two communities, often existing side by side, whose relations will continue to shape global politics for decades to come.