The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
VOLUME XV. Colonial and Revolutionary Literature; Early National Literature, Part I.

IV. Irving.

§ 17. Legends of the Alhambra.


The Alhambra, which has been called the “Spanish Sketch Book,” is a beautiful expression of the thoughts and dreams of the author as he muses amid the ruins of the Palace of the Moors. The reader feels that in recording the great struggle which terminated in I492 with the triumph of Spain, Irving’s sympathies are not with the conquering Christians but with the defeated Moslems.   32