Spain: A History

by Raymond Carr (editor)

In this up-to-date and engaging tour of Spain through the ages, one of the world's leading authorities on the history of Spain, Sir Raymond Carr, provides an authoritative overview of a country that has played a vital role in the history of the Western world.

He tells of prehistoric Spain and of the imposition of Roman rule, which created the idea of Hispania as a single entity. There are knowledgeable discussions of the Visigoth monarchy, Moorish Spain, the establishment of an empire, and the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Carr examines not only the political and economic development of Spain, but also the extraordinary artistic and literary achievements of the Spanish people. He charts the rise and fall of liberalism in the nineteenth century, and the subsequent period of political instability culminating in the Civil War and authoritarian rule. The book concludes with a look at modern Spain as a fully integrated and enthusiastic member of the European community.

Attractively illustrated throughout, A History is the best historical account of Spain currently available for general readers.

Genres: History, Spain, Nonfiction, Spanish History, European History, Spanish Literature, Travel

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Sir Raymond Albert Maillard Carr FBA FRHS FRSL, known as Raymond Carr, was an English historian specializing in the history of Spain, Latin America, and Sweden who was Warden of St Antony's College, Oxford, from 1968 to 1987.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPAIN--The cave artists. The Basques. The Celts. The Greeks. The Phoenicians. The Carthaginians. The Romans. The Vandals. The Visigoths. The Muslim Arabs and Berbers. The Reconquest (by the Christians). Ferdinand and Isabella. The Inquisition. The expulsion of the Jews and Muslims. Columbus. The Spanish Empire. The Defeat of the Armada. The decline. Napoleon's invasion. Goya. The struggle for democracy. The Spanish-American War. Picasso. The Spanish Civil War. Franco. King Juan Carlos. A new constitution and the establishment of democracy.
I'd like to add that this book is more than just a chronology of events from the Stone Age to the Year 2000. Raymond Carr edited the book as a series of essays by various professors on Spanish history. Carr himself contributed one of the essays: "Liberalism and Reaction, 1833-1931," detailing events and personalities leading up to the Civil War. I knew a lot about the Civil War of 1936-1939 but knew little about the long hard struggle to build a democracy in Spain following the Napoleonic Wars. The movement of liberalism faced the powerful opposition of the aristocracy (big landlords), the military, and the Catholic Church. It would only be with the death of Franco and with the support of King Juan Carlos that liberalism would take hold-- and Spain could finally join the Western European liberal democracies .

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a series of essays on Spanish history with each written by a different expert in the various eras under view. I found it a little patchy, with the quality reducing as we got nearer to modern day.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In college, do you remember those spiral bound "books" that you had to pick up from the university printing office for one or two classes as semester? They were full of articles that your professor had picked out for the class. Some were interesting, some were dry, most you skipped.

This book is a very well-bound and nicely printed version of that type of book. It's not really an "edited" volume almost, since at times the articles seem only to be united by "Spain" and chronology and what the guy before that was talking about. I feel like I skipped huge sections because Writer A thought Writer B would cover it, and visa versa.

My biggest and insurmountable problem with this book is simple: It's not the book I needed to read.

I know EXTREMELY little about Spanish htistory. We get past Isabella and Ferdinand and their kids and I'm lost. Admittedly, the IRS has never asked me to plot the royal family of Spain or discuss Spain's relationship with Portugal on my taxes--but you never know. It could happen. Plus I hate knowing that there is a country about which I know so little. Especially since they make some great wines there.

Yes, you should know the history of any country of which you have sipped the wine. I think this is a great rule.

Back to my point. I need a Spain primer--maybe a coloring book. I don't know. Something not this. I have this feeling that if I find a basic book on Spain, this book will fill in little cracks and crevices and I will know stuff that I didn't know I knew.

I blame the title. You name a book "Spain: A History" and I'm just going to assume it's a pretty basic history of Spain. This book does win points (and maybe even a star) by having omigosh a lot of illustrations and art and explaining each thoroughly. I might keep the book just for this.

That and I spilled something on it and the orange ink on the back cover ran through about a third of the book.

[Julian Douglass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since I visited Spain 10 years ago, I fell in love with the country and the history of it. This is a nice primer explaining parts of Spain that I was not aware of. I am familiar with the age of Exploration and the era of Franco to the present, but nothing else. This was a nice introduction to the country and really inspired me to read more. Obviously, the Spanish Civil War is something I want to read more of, but now there are other aspects of Spain that I want to read as well. A little more academic, but that is because this is a product of Oxford University Press. Great history, nonetheless, and great book.

[John Lawson]

A dense book that covers a lot of material in a succinct amount of time. I found that the first half atleast of this book assumed some sense of knowledge about the time periods and geography of Spain. Between collapsing and rising monarchy’s and various battles from every direction, things definitely started to get mixed up in my head. I’ve read enough dense history books to confidently say that this is not the most accessible book out there. However for those interested in the subject it does do a good job of covering alot of material. The last few chapters definitely started to hit their stride for me, particularly because I’m just more interested in more modern history in general. While I could have done with more detail on the civil war and post era, I understand that its details were consistent with the space given to other subjects of the book.

What this book did well for me was priming my taste buds for more in depth learning on the time periods/subjects that stuck out, and that was worth it in the end.

[Logan Anderson]

I knew almost nothing about Spain before reading this. Carr and the 8 other contributing authors do an excellent job keeping this concise while still providing a thorough overview of Spain from prehistory up through the year 2000. There were several topic that I wished had more discussion (Black death and colonialism in the Americas) but I don’t think it’s really fair to complain about a book this short that covers such a broad range. Most topics are discussed briefly and at a high level, if you are already familiar with Spain, or looking for a deep dive on specific eras/events, you may get less out of this. This book is also primarily focused on politics although culture is discussed at various points.

A challenging read at times, I’m sure several of the topics went over my head, and a general unfamiliarity with early European history made connecting certain dots hard. But I grew as a reader and overall I thought they did a pretty good job bringing the uninitiated like me along. The tone is academic, avoids sensationalism, and is largely neutral (the last few chapters have a slightly more obvious political tilt IMO, although it is one that I and most readers will agree with I think). Switching authors between chapters didn’t bother me much as I thought every author had an engaging style and described their era well, although it could take a few pages to get used to the different styles.

Spanish history is an absolute whirlwind, a patchwork of different communities brought under what feels like 1000 different regimes. Its historical peaks and valleys, various conquests, and internal diversity create a deeply textured and layered society. While the tone of the book is largely impersonal and told at a high level, seeing generations of Spaniards weather war, political instability, adverse geography, and religious fanaticism is deeply compelling and strangely comforting. Understanding the Herculean effort taken to achieve the current Spanish democracy makes me eternally grateful for my own privilege and gives me a deep appreciation for how far Spain has come. Additionally, many passages had excellent general insight on politics, religion, and overall human nature.

I read this because I didn’t know anything about Spain, and now I have a much greater understanding of the country, and an overwhelming appreciation for the people and the struggles they have endured. I haven’t read any books like this, so I don’t have a great frame of reference, but overall I found this to be engaging and impactful. Excellent book.

[Rallorien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had two minor problems with this book. First, the maps, especially in the first chapter, don't have all (or even most) of the places mentioned on them. My modern Spanish geography isn't bad. However, my knowledge of Prehistoric, Roman, or Visigothic Spanish geography? Completely lacking. When you're mentioning random Roman towns, at least pretend to put them all on the map. I found myself going between maps in the book and to google numerous times to figure out what area they were talking about, even in the broadest terms.

Second, as this book is an edited volume with multiple authors, a few of the chapters got a bit difficult to read. For example, the chapter by Raymond Carr (the overall editor, in fact) on the period between 1833 and 1931 jumped chronologically back and forth a lot. For example, over two pages he goes from 1906 to 1907 to 1914 to 1830 to 1922 to the 1840s to 1879 to 1880 to 1923 to the 1890s (228-229), by which point my response was just "Wait, what?"

Outside of those problems, this was a very, very good intro to Spanish history. It only took a few hours in total to read (broken up over a few days by life), and, while not hugely specific, did hit the major trends. While very specifically a history, especially in the Reconquest on, of the major politicians and economy, it still gave enough about the rest of Spain to not be too boring. I might have preferred more specific regional politics and cultural histories, but it was still quite good.

[Sasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a compilation of several chapters, each written by different people and covering a different time period, which gives the book some internal inconsistency regarding writing styles, as well as content (e.g. some events which are overstressed by an author are later treated as meaningless by another). Though the book did make me think more deeply about certain periods and episodes of Spanish History, it proved to be a very confusing reading overall. It is thus impossible for me to recommend this book either as an introduction to the subject or for people who want to deepen their knowledge on this matter.

I thought the best written chapters were the ones on the Late Middle Ages (1250-1500) and modern Spain (since 1931).

[David Groves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book covering a vast amount of time throughout Spain's history. At first, I just wanted a summary of what happened from 1700 to 1936, but I found it useful for other eras, as well. It explained a lot of things that I had questions about, for example, there is always the question of why Spain fell behind other European countries, especially the northern ones.

"To explain the 'backwardness' of Spain, and the gap which had opened between the wretched poverty and the prospering nations of northern Europe, there was no need to look beyond the Inquisition which had cut Spain off from the intellectual and scientific achievements which were the basis of the advanced nations' prosperity and progress. Once the eighteenth-century Enlightenment prised open the windows to Europe, reactionaries created a countervailing White Legend. Spain had declined because the men of the Enlightenment, as the heirs of Luther and the disciples of Voltaire and Rousseau, had poisoned Spain's Catholic essence which constituted its sign of identity and the foundation of its greatness. In its battle against liberalism this White Legend became part of the intellectual baggage of the early propagandists of Francoism. Spain was seen as an ideological battleground between the liberal heirs of the Enlightenment and those who sought to preserve the Catholic essence of traditional Spain."

This is one of the lies that Spain told itself, propagated by the aristocracy, the military, and especially the Catholic Church. Modernists from the big cities were poisoning the country, which meant that they had to increase their prayer and tell their children that they didn't need to learn to read or write, just obey. Many of Spain's contemporary problems stem from the lies that they tell themselves still. This book talks much about "a war of the profoundly religious countryside against liberal towns," which is a war that rages still.

Unfortunately, much of Spanish history boils down to an overdeveloped military deposing legitimate governments, which are generally called coups, but because they didn't involve violence, but instead, simple threats of violence, were called by a much more benign term, pronunciamientos. Potato, Patahtoe. Another common rallying cry over the centuries was "the Church is in danger." In 1812, the Inquisition was abolished, and throughout the 19th century, religious conservatives pointed to that as a sign that the Church was in danger. In 1869, a new constitution proposed freedom of religion, and the Church cried out that it was once again in danger. Secular education was also a threat. Why? Because if other religions were allowed in, the One True Religion would lose members. Whenever tolerance was proposed, the Church was always in danger. This, of course, led to the fascist nationalist state of General Francisco Franco, which consisted of 40 years of a real Handmaid's Tale.

I am currently having a running argument with two friends who insist that Spain is a society more focused on creating a happy society, no matter that their economy pales in comparison with the more prosperous societies of northern Europe. I object, pointing to the yawning unemployment, the endemic nepotism, the appalling racism, and numerous other lovely traits. This book gave me ammunition for the argument, but that's only if my friends listen:

"What modern historians reject in toto is the Romantics' vision of an exceptional Spain that had deliberately turned its back on progress, in order to preserve the human, and--according to the German poet Rilke--the spiritual values that bourgeois societies had lost in the race for material prosperity. For the Romantics of the 1830s and many of their successors the emblematic hero was Don Quixote; for them Spain's history was to be explained, not in terms of objective factors, but by some special insight into the Spanish psyche. Modern historians would approve of the novelist Pio Baroja's verdict that half of the idiocies about the Spanish soul have been invented by foreigners, the other half by Spaniards themselves."

But will logic convince my two Romantic friends? Will they abandon their blindness? Fat chance.

There are several authors in this book, and some are clearly better than others. The one covering the 18th century is clearly an academic writer rather than a lucid one, but after that, the writing becomes better. I expected to stop reading after reaching 1936, because the Spanish Civil War is a sprawling topic better studied with the huge books of Paul Preston. However, if you want the period summarized quickly and intelligently, this book does just that.

I am particularly reading about Spain order to supplement my broader reading of Hispanic history across the globe, especially Mexico. Strangely, I discovered that the two countries have a very similar trajectory. Even though they split in 1820, both countries underwent decades over war in the 19th century, and then fell into dictatorship in the mid 20th. (Although 20th-century Mexico has been popularly thought of as a democracy, they were not, having had to suffer nearly a century of one-party rule under the PRI. Nobody else could be elected.) The reason why this similar historical blueprint happened, clearly, is the tripartite villains of Hispanic history: the aristocracy, the military, and the Church. These mustache-twisting villains insisted on the same things: no constitution, no meritocracy, no public education, no religious freedom, no free market, no free press, no union rights, inadequate wages for the poor, no legal redress; and for themselves, a life of leisure, impunity, and showy excess. Increasingly, I'm discovering the strong evidence behind the theory that fundamentalist religion is an unalloyed drag on society.

In 1932, Spain voted in a republic, and changes began taking place. However, in 1936, the conservatives (aka fascists) enlisted the help of Mussolini and Hitler and began making military gains. For Benito and Adolf, it was a chance for them to try out their military machinery before invading the rest of Europe. For Franco, it was a way to subvert the will of the people and drive Spain into the poverty-stricken past. It was a past also marked, however, by the Inquisitional desire to kill the infidel, and Franco initiated a documented holocaust of 200,000 liberals. In a recent trip that I took to Spain, a taxi driver pointed out a fascist demonstration that was blocking traffic through the center of Madrid, and told me, tellingly, that the fascists dislike the current government because "they think we should shoot more people," that that would solve lots of problems.

This is an eye-opening book, covering a vast time period, and well worth the read.

[Paul Hoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only is this an authoritative overview, but for me an eye opener about the Western Mediterranean history. I am planning a trip to Spain with my family and wanted a good historic overview; this book has provided that and more. I am half way through and will be finishing it in the next couple weeks. More later on my final thoughts. But so far, I highly recommend it for anyone, like myself, who wants a broad perspective of the history of the Iberian peninsula and the context of its cultural, social, economic and religious background.

[Soph · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first seven out of nine essays totally went over my head and were honestly quite tedious and indecipherably academic. Around "Vicissitudes of a World Power, 1500-1700" I genuinely started wondering if I was cut out for this history degree. But then!!! I got to 1833, where Carr begins discussing the highly contested rise of liberalism in Spain, and began enjoying myself. By 1868 when the "Glorious Revolution" of Liberal Unionists, Progressives, and Democrats occurred I was genuinely having fun reading and able to understand/contextualize everything. And then the 20th century was even better I loved reading about the Civil War, Franco's military dictatorship, and the post-regime clashes between various political parties. The language felt cleaner and less convoluted, I had more global context for things like the Munich treaty and the 1973 oil spill, and I could trace the events to the state of modern-day Spain (having just returned from Barcelona).

Overall I'd say my personal experience was: first seven chapters 1.5/5 because the only thing they had going for them was that they were well-researched and peer-reviewed. And then the last two chapters 4.5/5 I loved them

Things I found particularly interesting/would like to explore more, in no particular order: Isabella and Ferdinand's usage of their marriage as political legitimation and national inspiration; Spanish regional vs national identity/sovereignty (Basque and Catalan); the Catholic Church's decision to stop endorsing Franco and decree separation of church and state (the book sort of mentioned this offhandedly and I'd like to learn more); the state of both Republicanism/Communism and Nationalism/Francoism in Spain today; Franco's autarky economic model; the state of Spanish agriculture today; the specific policies that Adolfo Suaréz enacted to create a democratic Spain (and also why he was chosen by Franco if he already held pro-democratic beliefs); and a comparative labor history between Spanish and US union laborers in the early 20th century.

Funnily enough this book actually made me do some serious reflection about why I am a history major because this is the first university press history book, written by and for historians, that I've read for leisure, and (as stated above) I did not really understand nor enjoy the majority of it. In addition to being confusingly written, it seemed to assume a level of familiarity with Spanish and Mediterranean history that I did not already possess. On several occasions I only picked up this book with the promise to future me that I would get to read more interesting, readable books once I finished this one. Although I ended up loving the last two chapters, I do think that disliking the first seven allowed me to learn two valuable things about myself and what I like to read/learn. First, I truly cannot stomach reading overly academic, verbose language that features passive voice in every other clause and possesses a flat, removed tone due to its attempt at being "objective." (My intolerance for this writing style is obviously unfortunate because I am a university student who reads heavily academic writing for literally all of my assignments, but I think I'm usually more fine with it because I have other, more engaging material (lectures, discussions, other less academic readings) to supplement/contextualize the super academic stuff. Also obviously I just need to work more on reading difficult things to build up my tolerance.) My other realization from this book is that I far prefer modern history (going back to the 16th and 17th centuries, i.e. the beginning of colonialism and imperialism) over ancient history. I study history for two reasons: to connect events, figures, and movements across time periods and locales, and to explain the present day so I can attempt to remediate the issues I see in the world. I do not, like some people, study history because I am really fascinated with things like military technology or the Romans. I think these things are neat, and I understand that they provide us the ability to explain the present day in their own different ways, and I respect the people who study them. But I am frankly more preoccupied with the innumerable social, economic, political, and environmental injustices I see on a daily basis, and thus I care to learn about the history that most directly pertains to these injustices. All this to say that learning about, say, Visigothic Spain was not very interesting to me because it just felt too abstract and trivial (especially when it was written so densely). However!!!! I would still like to learn things for the sake of learning and maintaining some sort of wonder in my life so I think in the future I'll just listen to (well-researched, peer-reviewed) podcasts about ancient history and military technology and such. That way the barrier to entry will be lower and the language will not be as impenetrable. Anyways now I am doing another classic 2am Goodreads review ramble oops. Nobody really gaf why I study history but these things are interesting for me to think about I suppose

[Josie Pringle · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Spain: A History' is communicated well and categorised in a clear way. The book divides the history of Spain into 9 sections, which makes it much easier for the reader to compartmentalise. Furthermore, the book is only 282 pages long, which is the perfect length for a reader looking for a concise overview of Spain's history. However, this is not an easy read- its a series of academic articles. In particular, I found the Late Middle Ages chapter incredibly mentally straining. I also didn't appreciate the splitting of 1500-1700 into 2 chapters, which was counter-intuitive.

I particularly enjoyed learning about the historical background of tensions in Spain which have penetrated well into the 20th and 21st century. Notably the treatment of the Jews, whereby I learnt that persecution dated back to the 7th century, where Visigoths forced many Jews to convert, and if they failed to comply, they could suffer punishment by enslavement of forfeiture of property. Additionally the historical context of regional nationalism from the Basque county and Catalonia particularly interests me as my grandmother has owned a house in Catalonia for 45 years, and upon visiting I’ve often sought to understand why there is a separate language: Catalan, why there is such a prevalence of Catalan flags, and why there is general distaste for centralised politics from Madrid. Spain: A History pinpoints important moments in Spain's which have defined the regional identity of these areas. It reveals that when Muslims had conquered the majority of Spain, parts of the North (including Catalonia and the Basque county) remained Christian nuclei, thus the culture of these areas developed in different ways. Furthermore, Barcelona became a uniquely prosperous city very early in Spain’s history, for example, it was the first city to mint gold coins in Western Europe (1020), thus explaining the Catalan belief that Catalonia would prosper as an independent region. This was even recognised by Spanish monarchs, with Peter III giving in to the demands of the Cortes of Barcelona, thus demonstrating that with economic power, comes political power. Furthermore, the book reveals the ubiquity of organised revolts by the Catalans and individuals from Basque country, throughout Spanish history, thus tracing a crescendo in regional nationalism in these areas.

Furthermore, Spain: A History has made me wonder whether Islamic rule in the early middle ages may have played an important role in explaining the conservatism and piousness of Spain in modern history, and thus the reason Franco acquired such vigorous support. The fact that Christian kings overcame militant Islamic control, thus being ‘heroes’ in the eyes of the Spanish Christians, may explain the growing Spanish belief stemming from the late Middle Ages in a ‘Last World Emperor’ who would resign Imperium directly to God in Jerusalem at Golgotha, with the new King eradicating Islam and conquering Jerusalem. This belief that Christianity will save the world, appears to directly stem from the rebuttal to Islamic conquest. These deeply engrained beliefs may therefore explain the divisions between the “godless” left and the pious right which plagued 19th and 20th century Spanish politics. The Spanish Civil War is the epitome of this divide, with the rebels uniting in their desire to restore the role of the Catholic Church, just as Christians reconquered Spain after Muslim occupation. Likewise, the intensity of this belief in the Catholic Church, appeared to be the glue between the rebels, a glue which the Republicans lacked, as they desperately tried to lace together a common cause, across a wide and complex political spectrum. However, the good news is that the Church appeared to recognise this, as in 1971, the Church apologised for its role in the Civil War, and crucially asked for separation of the church and the state. This is a critical juncture in Spanish history, because it signals that the Church may no longer let itself be used as a trump card, by political demagogues seeking to exploit the sentiment of a deeply pious nation. Perhaps just as the Popular Party elected in March 2000 has learnt to respect the democratic constitution, respect for the Catholic religion, alongside the respect for democracy, could provide a form of stability in Spanish politics, thus preventing the repetition of Civil War or a military pronunciamento.

These are only a few themes and messages that I have taken from Spain: A History. There is considerably more to be learnt from this book.

In conclusion, this book really strengthens ones general understanding of the history, identity, culture, and politics of Spain. A must read!

[Budge Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carr edits together a series of essays/chapters by Spanish scholars, ranging from prehistory to the death of Franco. Carr makes it clear that Franco's death freed historians to write. Profusely illustrated with b&w and colour illustrations, the chapters will whet your appetite - they offer a general history, point to significant events/trends, but obviously cannot offer a complex, expansive, detailed history.
Nevertheless, highly readbale, makes abundantly clear the geographic, climatic, agricultural and cultural diversity of the peninsula.
Richard Fletcher's chapter emphasises that Spain was not universally Catholic - a significant Jewish presence, the Berber/Muslim years following invasion in 711. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto's chapter, 'The Improbable Empire', is particularly stimulating - how did a relatively poor corner of Europe acquire such a world role? Spain might have lost its colonial empire, the Spanish language remains a major cultural force worldwide.
Henry Kamen develops the 'World Power' role. It took time to respond to Columbus' discovery of the Americas. Vast wealth, genocide of the native populations ... and a Spanish military which relied on mercenaries. Two thirds of the ships and troops who won the epic victory at Lepanto were Italian.
Richard Herr looks at the 18th century and consequences of the French Revolution and Napoleonic years with the loss of empire.
Raymond Carr himself reviews the years 1833-1931 - the growth of parliamentary democracy in the face of widespread illiteracy and a workforce which was hardly industrialised. The generals and aristocracy and Church still held the reins of power.
And Sebastian Balfour delivers the final chapter, taking us to the death of Franco and years immediately after. He considers the problems still facing the creation of a republic with the continuing powers of the Spanish Right (the military, royalists, Church, industrialists). Franco's regime had aimed to impose a 'true identity' on a united Spain - separatist sentiments in the Basque country, Gallicia and Catalonia have not gone away.
For a book published in 2000, this is probably reaching the end of its shelf life in terms of its grasp of current affairs. Nevertheless, it does serve up a complex and engrossing history of Spain, highlighting the disparate influences and their effects over the centuries. Well worth a read if you need or want to put Spanish history into perspective.

[W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly strangely, the chapter which is written by the book’s editor, Carr, is the weakest, being list-like and overburdened with names and dates, an unlikely attempt at a comprehensive chronological history covering a century of complicated politics. This is representative of the weaker side of the book in general – not selective enough in its coverage of important events, people, and ideas and not speculating much on the meaning of Spanish history. But recovery comes in the following and final chapter by Sebastian Balfour, written with a heroic balance of information, analysis, and evocation. And perhaps the bewildering back-and-forth of military coups presented in Carr’s 19th-century chapter is essential in generating the subsequent sense of drama of the Spanish civil war, which started as an unanticipated revolution against the institution of coup d’état. This momentous rejection of the nation’s army by much of Spain is a tragic and fascinating gesture, to be placed alongside the more familiar importance of the war as a geopolitical development.

The book is structurally well-balanced, with appropriate allocations to the various time periods. It’s interesting to read, fairly serious but not too technical, and presents throughout its range of authors a sense of honesty about the general nature of Spanish history: a country with distinct physical and social limitations which has at times been at the very margins of Europe, but also one with the drama and vibrancy to stimulate the reader towards further investigation.

[Callum Soukup-Croy · Rating 1 out of 5]

For such an interesting topic as the history of Spain this book is just disappointing. Don't get me wrong, the authors have clearly done their research and the detail is extensive but the book reads more like a college textbook than an accessible account of Spanish history. The last couple of chapters aside, which are easily the best written of the book, each author has contributed a chapter laced with pretentious writing, excessively long sentences and on several occasions, poor grammar and typographical errors.

There must be a better book on the topic out there, unfortunately for me I couldn't find it. I suggest you look harder than I did to make sure you too don't have to waste your time reading this book.

[Helgi Gudnason · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a bit hard to read because in not many pages it covers the history of Spain from prehistoric times until ca 2000.

Each chapter is written by a different author but the editor has done a very good job smoothing out stylistic differences. It feels like a single book.

I was torn between awarding three or four stars. They did quite well given the task they were undertaking. I guess books like this need to exist, but they don't read very well.

That being said, I am now fascinated by Philip II and the early catholic kings. This book sparked my interest for further reading.

I recommend it for such a book, butI guess reading a book for each epoch is probably better.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, chronicling the history of Spain, is written by various authors, with Raymond Carr acting as an anchor.

Some chapters are invariably weak in comparison to others, but by far, Carr's chapter, "Liberalism and Reaction", is by far the strongest chapter, detailing the political problems that Spain faced in the 1800s.

All in all, to read about Spain, one of the front and center nations at the heart of Western Civilization, was revitalizing, and the book has left me with an increased understanding of how Spain got to where it is in its current state.

[Samuel]

Pretty much what I expected from an academic but fairly concise account of Spain's history. As a compilation of different experts' essays, the slightly different tone of each section kept it fresh, I suppose, but it was nonetheless no more exciting than most history books. Most of the focus is on the broader cultural trends, rather than being an account of historical events.
If you want a relatively short but comprehensive history of Spain, this does nicely, though I wonder how much I will have retained.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though published in 2000 and so a little out of date, Spain: A History, edited by the historian Raymond Carr, is an excellent collection of academic (but readable) articles about Spain from prehistoric times to its modernization as a democracy. Complete with photographs of important art and artifacts that illustrate the various periods of Spain's history, this volume is a valuable contribution to the understanding of the richness of Spanish culture as well as the pain and horrors that the Spanish people have suffered.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An overview of Spanish history from earliest times to the end of the twentieth century with each chapter written by a different historians. There are some excellent chapters including "The Improbable Empire" and "Vicissitudes of World Power 1500-1700" and the final chapter about the Spanish Civil War but there are also some curious omissions including the Spanish-American War and the Spanish flu! An informative read, when paired with other works of Spanish history.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good short introduction to the vast sweep of Spanish history, even if it can skip over some a events a bit too quickly. But I think I still have better knowledge of the 'landmark' events in that country's history, which is what you need if you want to go into more detail with more detailed works.

[Karl Dennhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well researched work.probably too much for the lay person. I was more interested in the last century. But there it unfortunately it tailed off. It certainly reaffirms my view of the caustic effects of religion embodied by the church.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of mixed quality. I agree with those reviewers that find Carr's intro. and essay to be superior to the rest. He is the best stylist among this group of post-Franco historians and the most nuanced and engaging thinker, I think.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concise, accessible history of Spain that offers broad understanding of the country's development. Admittedly, the later essays on more modern history made my eyes glaze over; someone needs to figure out how to make politics much more interesting to the lay reader.

[Peter A. van Tilburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This boook offered me as I expected a further insight in the history of Spain. A good overview not in too much detail but enough to understand the becoming of the country which helps to understand current issues in Spain like the Catalunian strive for independance.

[Stephen Noonan · Rating 2 out of 5]

But of a struggle. Disjointed due to the 9 different authors, some of the essays assumed you knew quite a bit to begin with.
Ghosts of Spain was better, benefitting from a single author with an overall vision and explaining how Spain today relates to its past.

[Bill Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encompassing the known history of Spain, edited by Raymond Carr, with 9 chapters provided by different contributors. I thought it a great introduction to the history of Spain and the region and look to exploring periods of interest in more depth.

[LuisJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than I'd expected. This collection of essays is quite even, which is something of a rarity in such publications. The first paper is perhaps a little difficult as it introduces a constant stream of parties, factions and dates but it's certainly worth persevering.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a particularly engrossing read, but this chronological collection of essays offers a solid survey of the history of Spain

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good chapters, some bad chapters.