A Social History of Modern Spain

by Adrian Shubert

Insightful and accessible, A Social History of Modern Spain is the first comprehensive social history of modern Spain in any language. Adrian Shubert analyzes the social development of Spain since 1800. He explores the social conflicts at the root of the Spanish Civil War and how that war and the subsequent changes from democracy to Franco and back again have shaped the social relations of the country. Paying equal attention to the rural and urban worlds and respecting the great regional diversity within Spain, Shubert draws a sophisticated picture of a country struggling with the problems posed by political, economic, and social change. He begins with an overview of the rural economy and the relationship of the people to the land, then moves on to an analysis of the work and social lives of the urban population. He then discusses the changing roles of the clergy, the military, and the various local government, community, and law enforcement officials. A Social History of Modern Spain concludes with an analysis of the dramatic political, economic, and social changes during the Franco regime and during the subsequent return to democracy.

Genres: History, Spain

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 8, 1990

About the author

Adrian Shubert is a Canadian historian and Hispanist, professor, and chair of History at York University in Toronto.
He has authored works such as Hacia la revolución. Orígenes sociales del movimiento obrero en Asturias, 1860-1934 (1984), A Social History of Modern Spain (1990), Spain at War: The Spanish Civil War in Context, 1931-1939 (1995), Death and Money in the Afternoon: A History of the Spanish Bullfight (1999), A las cinco de la tarde, una historia social del toreo (2002), and a monumental biography of Spanish General Baldomero Espartero, Espartero, el Pacificador (2018), among others.

Reviews

[Andrew Daniels]

Excellent work, but boy does it ever get bogged down and hard to read at parts. He likes to focus in on a few minute examples of people from time to time, and sometimes I find it dull.