Mark R. Williams

The only positive thing I have to say about this book is that it is accessible to the lay reader, the non-expert, someone who has a burning passion to know more about the basics of Spanish history (but not culture). The author clearly has done his research, and has done a capable job of distilling the major conflicts and trends of Spanish history into an easily digestible product. However, he falls too frequently into an essentialization of Spanish history, saying over and over again that Spain repeats its past mistakes, and that these mistakes simply reincarnate in the form of (yet another) civil war. There is also some lamentable writing that happens in the book, and there is really no attempt to remain objective on the part of the author. The subtitle gives the first clue, about Spain being Europe's "most fascinating country" -- this is just an updated example of the exoticizing of Spain that has been going on since time immemorial.

I am a professor of Spanish Literature, and I would not recommend this book to my students in any way, shape or form. However, I would recommend it to family members who are still trying to figure out why on earth I got a Ph.D. in the humanities. This book, with its "fascinating" portrait of Spain might explain how it is I fell in love with this -- in my opinion -- tortured nation.… (more)

The only positive thing I have to say about this book is that it is accessible to the lay reader, the non-expert, someone who has a burning passion to know more about the basics of Spanish history (but not culture). The author clearly has done his research, and has done a capable job of distilling the major conflicts and trends of Spanish history into an easily digestible product. However, he falls too frequently into an essentialization of Spanish history, saying over and over again that Spain repeats its past mistakes, and that these mistakes simply reincarnate in the form of (yet another) civil war. There is also some lamentable writing that happens in the book, and there is really no attempt to remain objective on the part of the author. The subtitle gives the first clue, about Spain being Europe's "most fascinating country" -- this is just an updated example of the exoticizing of Spain that has been going on since time immemorial.

I am a professor of Spanish Literature, and I would not recommend this book to my students in any way, shape or form. However, I would recommend it to family members who are still trying to figure out why on earth I got a Ph.D. in the humanities. This book, with its "fascinating" portrait of Spain might explain how it is I fell in love with this -- in my opinion -- tortured nation.… (more)

This book is a very satisfying short history of Spain, providing an accessible, concise, and well-written view of the country's past I made my first trip to Spain this fall, and realized that, despite a great deal of reading in British and general European history, I was woefully ignorant of the country I was visiting. This may be due in part to the fact that Spain really is "different", as the author suggests, or it may simply reflect the Whig version of history with which I grew up: what mattered was England, and neighbors who were rude enough to fight with England in recent centuries. In any event, I found this book very illuminating -- it explains many of the ways in which Spain really is different, and helped me better understand some of the art that I saw.… (more)