During the nineteenth century a fascination with the Orient spread across Europe. The landscapes, townscapes and costumes of the Ottoman, Arab and Mogul worlds provided inspiration for painters from Delacroix to Matisse. When expressed in architecture and design, this phenomenon became known as the Moorish Style.

In this magnificently illustrated survey, Miles Danby examines the roots of the style in art and architecture throughout the Islamic world, discussing the factors of space, pattern, structure and decoration. Of all the buildings that exemplify this mode, the Alhambra in Granada is perhaps the most important. Expertly recorded by the great nineteenth-century designer Owen Jones, its features became part of the exotic dreams of aesthetes and continued to inspire Western architects during the twentieth century.

This book, now available in paperback, is the first to examine this highly distinctive and influential style all the way from its earliest origins to its diverse contemporary manifestations.