From the 11th to the 15th centuries, a succession of dynasties - Almoravid, Almohad, and Marinid - fashioned a political and civilizational space centered on Morocco and stretching to Andalusia. Their conquests took them from the southern edge of the Sahara (northern fringe of Mauritania) to the northern reaches of Algeria and Tunisia. This empire's influence, unifying for the first time the western Islamic world,...