I need a paper written on Under Crescent and Cross

Hist 1720 – The West and the World I (Summer I 2016)

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Assignment #5 (due no later than: 11:59 PM ET, Wednesday, June 17)

Mark Cohen’s Under Crescent and Cross covers more or less the

same period and the same geographical region as the previous book.

However, here the focus is on the situation of the Jews under the medieval

Islamic and Christian civilizations. The discussion is illuminating about the

situation of Jewish communities in Europe, the Middle East and North

Africa. But it also tells us quite a lot about important characteristics of these

two competing medieval civilizations when it comes to their treatment of

minorities and their role in Christian and Muslim societies in the Middle

Ages (I emphasize here ‘medieval’ and ‘Middle Ages’ several times to

underline the fact that the facts described and the insights they give do NOT

necessarily apply to later periods).

The Assignment

Once you are done reading the book: Write a paper, no more than 5

double-spaced pages, in which you reflect on the important and most

interesting points made in the book about Jewish life under Crescent and

Cross during the Middle Ages. Discuss both illuminating and interesting

facts/developments in Jewish communities as well as how or in what ways

Hist 1720 – The West and the World I (Summer I 2016)

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the situation of the Jews tells us something about the medieval Christian and

Islamic civilizations.

The guidelines allow a lot of room for maneuverability in terms of style of

writing and content. I do NOT expect from you a specific format. What I do

want to see is that you actually read the book, engaged with its narrative and

arguments, and explicated your thoughts on it in a lucid and thoughtful

essay.

You should feel free to be judgmental about the book, including

commenting on things that were new/old news/interesting/banal/thought-

provoking/prosaic/enlightening/non-sensical, etc. to/for you.

As stated above, whenever you make a general statement, I expect specific

examples from the text to support it. Each example should be referenced

properly (citations should include page number(s), but other than that you

may use whichever system you feel comfortable with).

Make sure to insert ‘page numbers’ to your paper and to put your name on

its first page.