"The Golden Age" of Spain was not only a period of relative peace and prosperity for the Jews, it also saw a "renaissance" of Jewish poetry and philosophy. A lesson in how peaceful times can spawn creativity, the parallels and differences to modern Jewish society become eminently clear.

• Abdul Al Rahman, caliph of Spain
• Chisdai ibn Shaprut, the first court Jew
• the powerful yet dangerous position of court physician
• the "sunbelt" theory of world development
• the birth of the pan-Arab dream
• how Jews became the emissaries between Christians & Moslems