Grenada's crowning glory.(Book Review)

THE ALHAMBRA by Robert Irwin Profile Books, 15.99 [pounds sterling], pp. 264, ISBN 1861974214

Four years ago this author gave us Night & Horses & the Desert, an anthology of classical Arabic literature, all brave deeds, high thinking and love, wit and wisdom--chivalry, in short--reminding why so many generations of the English have fallen madly in love with this culture that is now dead and gone--and so much the worse for all of us. Never have I owned a more romantic book, but with this one Robert Irwin discourages romance. A first chapter is full of alluring tales about the Alhambra, but then he says, 'Not one fact ... is likely to be correct', blaming the purveyors of the tourist industry. But when the truth …