İspanya'nın Kısa Tarihi

Cambridge Concise Histories

by William D. Phillips Jr., Carla Rahn Phillips, Tuna Erkmen (Translator)

İspanya farklı unsurlar barındıran nüfus yapısı ve Avrupa dışındaki uygarlıklarla yakın ilişkileri bakımından Avrupa'nın geri kalanından farklıdır. Bu kitap, İspanya'nın uzun ve karmaşık tarihi hakkında yararlı bir giriş sunarak İspanya'nın farklılığını anlamamıza yardımcı oluyor.

İlk bölümlerde, göç dalgalarının İspanya'nın nüfus yapısının yanı sıra siyasi ve sosyal karakterini nasıl şekillendirdiği ele alınıyor. Örneğin ortaçağ İspanyası, Hıristiyan, Müslüman ve Yahudi cemaatlerin bir arada yaşadığı benzersiz bir geçmişi sergilemekteydi. Aynı zamanda, Hıristiyan ve İslami siyasi güçler arasında yüzyıllarca süren çatışmalar her iki tarafı da kaçınılmaz olarak dinsel aşırılıklara sürüklemişti. Ortaçağın sonunda zafere ulaşan Hıristiyan krallığının dinî kimliği, İspanya'daki yaşamın her yönüne nüfuz etmişti. Dinsel kimliğe ve ona karşı görüşlere ilişkin izler bugün bile varlığını sürdürmektedir ve bu nokta hesaba katılmadan İspanya tarihi anlaşılamaz.

Kitapta ele alınan bir başka tema ise iktidar mücadelesidir. Modern dönemin başlarında önce Habsburg hanedanı ve ardından gelen Bourbonlar dünyanın bu ilk küresel imparatorluğunu yönetmişlerdi. Bu süreçte, İspanyol bürokrasisi dünyanın her yerinde baş gösteren sorunlarla uğraşmak zorunda kalmıştı. Bunlar küreselleşmenin getireceği yeni zorlukların habercisiydi. 1650'ye gelindiğinde İspanya Avrupa'daki egemen güç konumunu rakiplerine kaptırdı, ama imparatorluk XIX. yüzyıl başlarına kadar varlığını sürdürmeyi bildi. İspanya'nın geçmişte küresel bir güç olmasının bıraktığı izler bugün bile İspanyol siyasi hayatının renklerini oluşturmaya devam etmektedir.

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

346 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2010

Reviews

[Antonomasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A one-volume traditional political history which is serviceable for considerable stretches - and which, in audio form, could hardly be better read. Five stars to Luis Soto for making it as interesting as it could be. It would not be difficult for this material to sound dry and dull in the voice of an only marginally less adept narrator.

However, the authors have little to say about the medieval Moorish kingdoms, and are overly positive about the Franco years. Often they sound neutral and modern, but from time to time, there seem to be conservative or Islamophobic leanings.

Tone-wise, it was rather like reading the London Times: much of it a decent survey of the expected material in an authoritative tone, with the ostensible neutrality and even-handedness expected of a responsible account, and greater use of modern mores than you might expect if you'd been told it was conservative - but there are a few topics on which the rightward political lean is obvious, as well as more subtly in the selection of topics.

With audiobooks on Spanish history, like that of a few other countries, there has ended up being a rightward slant in what's available. The only intentional attempt to skew seems to be when, as with YouTube, far-right commentators have taken audiobooks as an opportunity to produce shortish, unscholarly content. (Whereas the far left doesn't do anything similar with audiobooks, and would rather write monographs for small political publishers.) Add to that the paucity of audiobooks from university presses. There is a smallish selection of general histories, including a couple from conservative academic historians (such as this and Stanley Payne's), and popular history by centre-left authors which happens to be on topics with right-wing appeal, like the Reconquista and colonisation. And that's how audiobook history can end up with an overall rightward slant.

This Concise History of Spain is your barebones old-school school political history (which I couldn't quite believe was written in 2010 and revised in 2015). It's mostly about kings and chief ministers, who can provide a framework for later fine detail or broad sweep (which you won't find in here).
It's a long time since I was subjected to a survey course, and I'm not sure I'd realised before how much I find, and possibly always found, the traditional accompanying stuff about the roots of a country's legal system, and developments in agriculture, really really interesting. (Although perhaps post-university work and living-places respectively make those less surprising.) If it's social history you're after, the Phillipses are not your people - though IMO it's a good idea to have a handle on this sort of material first, to see the underlying political context in society and culture.
Like many one-volume histories, the content is heavily weighted towards the early modern and modern periods, and to a greater extent than the evidence might justify. Prehistory is brief, and the high middle ages, here, is too often a rapid succession of kings, plus a sentence or two on the further details of each reigns. (But enough to whet the appetite on El Cid, and the cultural renaissance under Alfonso X of Castile.) However, the violence and complex loyalties were a reminder of why the phrase "game of thrones" is such a marvellous encapsulation of medieval politics & warfare.

The Phillipses' medieval narrative is firmly centred in the Christian kingdoms. Although there are a few mentions of developments and culture in the Muslim territories, these places are essentially Other, and there is a general sense of hurry to get the moors out of the way (and back on the other side of the Med, where, it's implied, they belong). The authors are specialists in early modern Spain, so in some ways they are hurrying towards their 'home' topics. But from their description of the Moorish invasion, it could hardly be clearer whose side the authors are on: "effective resistance to Islamic invasion collapsed. The Visigothic kingdom, and with it, Iberia's ancient history had come to an abrupt end." Not just the end of a dynasty or particular people's hegemony, but, apparently, a landmass? Fast forwarding for a minute to the Napoleonic invasion, a sentence like this seems neutral enough, but contextualised among the medieval material, it feels like there's a different spin: "Given the long Spanish history of conflict with Muslim forces, the sight of turbaned horsemen charging a crowd of men and women in the heart of Madrid had a shocking effect." Although, in the final chapter it's mentioned that "A European poll in December 2000 found that Spaniards were more tolerant of other religions than any other country in the European Union: 92.9 percent of Spanish respondents to the poll said they had no problem accepting the presence of other religions, compared to a European average of 80 percent."

Historians should comprehensively understand the attitudes of the times they are dealing with, and should certainly not be obliged to judge them with with every mention. But the opening chapter of Giles Tremlett's Isabella of Castile demonstrates how these things can be introduced with greater responsibility to a present-day general audience (multicultural, at a politically volatile time) and also with understanding of the past's winners. (Winners is what it usually means in practice when the idea of understanding historical intolerance is raised.): "These are terrible acts by the morals of today, but were widely applauded in a Europe which looked scornfully upon Spain’s mix of religions...Religious or ethnic cleansing, enslavement and intolerance were not frowned upon. They could, in fact, be virtuous. Yet even by the measures of her own era Isabella was deemed severe."

I hadn't realised quite how little Spanish history I knew from the period between Philip II and the 1930s Civil War, and was glad to have clarification with a Spanish focus about previously dull-sounding events I'd always skimmed over in British history, such as the War of Jenkins' Ear (okay, the *name* has never been dull) and the War of Spanish Succession. There are a number of famous and influential early-modern chief ministers, but, other than Olivares, one doesn't seem to hear of them in the UK the way one does of Richelieu, Mazarin and other French counterparts. (Good ministers were, periodically, the saving grace of the hapless last Hapsburg, Carlos II.) Ministers and courtiers with British names turn up intriguingly often - rather like in later Imperial Russia, only more frequently. Early-modern Brits seem to have inveigled themselves into the power structures of other European countries more often than their foreign counterparts (other than those with French names) were able to in the UK.

The 18th century Bourbons are big, memorable characters, sounding likeable here in a way that the stodgy Hanoverians, their English contemporaries, never have. Philip V was so prone to depression that he abdicated in favour of his son; but the son promptly died and Phil V returned for another 22 years. Due to his formidable and supportive second wife Elizabeth Farnese, and his talent for selecting excellent ministers, this was a far more successful kingship than it may otherwise have been, and he was the longest-serving monarch in Spanish history. Two further sons who became kings of Spain shared his aptitude for ministerial selection, and were similarly uxorious. The earlier, Fernando VI, was also depressive.

The authors are clearly big fans of Carlos III:
"Despite the necessary trappings of monarchy, he seems to have been a man of modest and unpretentious demeanor, highly intelligent, pious, and hardworking.
Modern Spaniards continue to rank Carlos III as one of the best rulers that Spain has ever had – a king conscious of his power, but determined to use it to further the well-being of his subjects. Many historians agree with that assessment and consider him the most genuine and effective enlightened ruler in all of eighteenth-century Europe."
It's evident from Wikipedia that they are not alone. The king's rather comical appearance, as shown in portraits, clearly did not discourage him. He aimed to help the poor, although this was not always successful or obvious, such as when the abolition of ceiling prices, part of a package of wider reforms, hit at the time of a poor harvest, and popular discontent came to a head in the unrest later portrayed in Manuel de Falla's ballet The Three-Cornered Hat. It was during his reign that the Spanish Empire in the Americas reached its largest geographic extent. There were a number of small wars in what are now popular holiday destinations, such as Menorca and Florida. (I was surprised to learn that Galveston was named after a Spanish general and governor, named Galves.) Many centuries of enmity with France run through the history of Spain - France was Spain's historic enemy as it was England's - something which was not so noticeable with period-specific studies: however, the 18th century was an exception. Carlos III was a Spanish-identified (and Sicilian) king unlike his French-born father, but naval and territorial rivalry with England in the Americas was central, and necessitated reluctant alliance with France.

And then, after Carlos the Great, the fall: in the early 19th century, and in the wake of the French Revolution came weak monarchy and the first of several episodes of chaotic political polarisation. This was the historical background to the war in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (the Peninsular War), and in many harrowing Goya paintings. (The latter showing a staggeringly different experience of the Napoleonic era when set beside Britain's domestic safety and its art. But the book also provides a more rounded view of Goya than is provided by British art documentaries such as Andrew Graham-Dixon's Art of Spain: if you've always seen him as an innovative and dark artist, it's something of a surprise to find out that he was a court painter, albeit a slyly subversive one.) This was also the beginning of Spain's late 19th-20th century reputation for being behind other (Western) European countries - although an ancient idea that "Europe begins at the Pyrenees" is also mentioned in the medieval chapters.

Farcically, the inept King Carlos IV fled the French invasion by taking his family to Paris for refuge at the court of Napoleon, who despised him. Though this does show something of the shift in ethos of politics at this time: he did not seem to fear being imprisoned. The progressive Cortes of Cadiz - too left-wing for some - instead helped galvanise resistance to Napoleon's forces, and a constitutional monarchy under another weak king eventually emerged. Carlists also coalesced at this time, and had their First Carlist War. The faction's name may be familiar from the 1930s civil war, but its origin is not always explained in Civil War histories.

I'd hardly heard before of Isabella II (1833-68/70), Queen Victoria's contemporary. This was another period in which, as in the 14th-16th century, the overall development of Spain, at least as related here, had so much in common with that of other European countries as to sound almost generic. Spain was certainly not as industrialised as Britain, but the growth of urban capitalism and consumerism - at the expense of traditional industry and the old guild system - and with them democracy, were the order of the day. However, whilst France, Britain, and others retained their colonial empires into the 20th century, Spain ended up over a century ahead in this respect, as the bulk of Latin American countries declared their independence during the Napoleonic era. (Cuba would wage a successful war of independence in the 1890s - aided by the USA, at a time of nationalism and sensationalist journalism, the authors mention - and this would be a psychological watershed for Spain as the final end of empire.) Isabella II could hardly been behaviourally and morally more different from Victoria, or the sternly devout first of her name, Isabella of Castile: Isabella II was apparently uninterested in the business of governing, and became notorious for taking a string of lovers, and for the probable illegitimacy of her children, including the next king. Her reign could, as the authors say, have been disastrous for the country if it had happened at a time of greater royal power, but it was mitigated by the constitutional monarchy system. The young Isabella had been married off to a gay duke, under the assumption that they would have no children, and that the throne would go next to her sister or *her* children, who were favoured by a then-powerful faction at court - this plan backfired rather spectacularly.

The rise of violent anarchism - similar to the strains associated with 19th century Russia - sparked a number of political assassination attempts on constitutional monarchs and politicians in the late 19th and early 20th century. More charitably than I was expecting, the book mentions "an identification of the whole anarchist movement with indiscriminate and uncontrolled violence", implying the inaccuracy of this. I grew up hearing this idea of anarchism in British news media too, and only realised that wasn't necessarily what anarchism was when, in my twenties, I met some very kind and pacifistic people who described themselves as anarchists - so I certainly hadn't been expecting this from a history book with apparently conservative leanings.

Through much of the 19th and the early 20th century, Spain was pulled back and forth between conservative and left-wing forms of government, with early form for military officers deciding they knew best and stepping in as a force unto themselves, and a number of short gaps in the constitutional monarchy. An intriguing power-sharing agreement in the late 19th century, whereby right and left wing parties alternated in government, did not last.

The Phillipses' take on the Franco years is rather like saying "Putin stabilised Russia and strengthened its economy": i.e. the problem is glaring omission of negatives. (This review goes into more detail.) The authors are clear that people celebrated when the dictatorship was over, and that the country prospered afterwards. And the way they explain that the 1973 assassination of Admiral Carrero Blanco enabled more rapid change after Franco's death - had he lived, he would have been a major conservative force - implies that this was a positive for the country. But there is very little about the repression under Franco, and a lot about outside influences to which the regime was open, and the transitional period from the late 1960s onwards when liberal reforms slowly began.

Another review indicates the odd emphases in relating the 2004 election failure of Aznar and the conservative party following the then-PM's insistence that ETA was responsible for the Madrid train bombings; they make Aznar sound less responsible than most news sources would agree he was.

King Juan Carlos is presented as instrumental in the successful democratisation of Spain: in making the right moves behind the scenes in the fragile days of the 1970s, and in facing down an attempted coup in 1981. Possibly the most politically signficant European monarch of the second half of the 20th century? Although there is brief mention of the royal family becoming somewhat less popular in the 21st century, it would be interesting to know if the king's anti-fascist role meant that the Spanish left take a somewhat different view on monarchy, as compared with their counterparts in other countries.

Not long ago, I was reading about Mitterand's France in The Years by Annie Ernaux, and the last few chapters of this history of Spain likewise gave me a trip back in time to the news of my childhood, with a bit about the Felipe Gonzalez government and Spain as a newcomer to the EEC. It reiterates a few points I first heard in Culture Smart - Spain and whose accuracy I wasn't sure of, getting them from only one source, such as the level of sexualisation in the media. (They didn't tell you these things if you studied Spanish at a Catholic school 25 years ago.) Some of the earlier parts of the book were also been a trip back in time to old history lessons - the 16th century, the powerful early modern shepherds' guild of the Mesta; the Cortes.

There seems to be quite a lot that's useful here, as a basic one-volume history, but it should really be supplemented with other content on Moorish Spain, and on the Civil War and Franco. It doesn't seem easy to find a shortish general history of Spain by a historian who isn't right-wing. When I first wrote this review, I suggested Jeremy Black's then newly published A Brief History of Spain, as I wasn't then aware of Black's politics. All I can say in my defence is that it was after I graduated when Black published the bulk of what QMUL lecturer Kim Wagner, in this Guardian review, calls his 'copious oeuvre' of general history, and the areas in which Black actually specialised were not personal interests of mine. The introduction of Black's book discusses the politicisation of Spanish history, and the medieval chapter is titled 'The Two Spains', which sounded more promising than the Phillips' approach to the Moors. However, its audio narrator, judging by his other books (there was not yet an audio sample of this one) was not as engaging as Soto.

(Listened April 2019, reviewed May 2019, final paragraph amended August 2019.)

[Roy Lotz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the experience of being an American in Europe evokes a great many feelings, probably the most characteristic is reverence. One so often feels one is walking on hallowed ground. Just the other day, I found myself looking up at the Roman aqueduct in Segovia. As I stood there, gaping skyward, squinting my eyes in the cloudless sunny day, something which was before only a drawing or photograph was standing right in front of my eyes. I’d never seen any structure so old. “I wonder what it’s like for the people who live here,” said my friend, similarly amazed. “Do they get used to it?” I hope not, for their sake.

Due to this tendency in me, to treat European history as the fountainhead of all civilization and culture, I was somewhat disappointed in this volume. Perhaps I shouldn’t be. After all, the authors did exactly as they promised: presented a concise history of Spain, from pre-history to the present day. Yet their presentation of this long story, however competent, turned it into a rather dry chronicle. The writing, though never bad, was seldom very good; and their selection of information, though interesting enough, was rarely captivating. Perhaps they would have done better to dedicate less time to political and economic history, and more to cultural development.

Of course, time and space were against the authors of this volume. To compress over two thousand years of history into three hundred pages is no mean feat; and considering this, I think the authors accomplished it with skill. This book was certainly necessary for me, being, as I was, remarkably ignorant of Spanish history. Now, I at least have the broad outline; and there’s plenty of time to fill in the finer details. Lucky for me, there is no end to the history of Europe; the story is, rather, like a fractal, containing endless layers of detail, which zoom into view the more you magnify the picture. And since you can never reach the end, perhaps I shouldn’t feel bad for only being at the beginning?

[Brian Clement · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is what it says, a "Concise History" of Spain, so this works well as an informational resource, and I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book. Up until the 20th century it's definitely a good overview without going into extreme detail, and it gives fairly good background on what leads up to the events of the 20th century.

Unfortunately, when the book gets to the Spanish Civil War, it goes completely off the rails and contains serious errors and omissions. The omissions might be understood given that it's a concise history (the Maquis aren't even mentioned by name, only that some armed conflict against Franco's regime continued up until the 50's), but the errors are bizarre. The authors incorrectly state that Franco's Nationalists only targeted "those on the other side of the conflict" which is ludicrous, given that even the most cursory examination of the war shows that they deliberately and repeatedly bombed civilian centers, and regularly tortured and executed political prisoners. Most egregiously, the authors state that the Republican government's purging of the POUM in 1937 was due to the POUM and anarchist fomenting a "rebellion" (!) against the government, when the reality is that the communist-controlled government attempted to disarm the anarchist and Trotskyist militias, resulting in the street battles that followed. The authors repeat the decades-old and long-since disproven reversal of chronology on this for some reason, and even state that George Orwell, who was a first-hand witness to it, didn't understand the situation!

Probably most head-scratching is the soft, even positive treatment given the Franco regime in the post-civil-war years by the authors. There's scant mention of the Republican, anarchist, socialist, and communist prisoners who were executed, and no mention of the horrific crimes committed by Franco's government by way of torture and rape, not just of enemy combatants but their family members as well. Negligible discussion is given to the slave labour employed by the fascist Nationalist government, or that they had concentration camps, and mass graves. The authors even start interjecting their own unnecessary opinions at points, for no valid reason.

In the end what really makes this book problematic is the complete lack of citations. This would be forgiveable in a high school essay, but this is a published book on history and when the authors make contentious claims they need to back them up. Instead, they resort to clichés such as "others would say that," or "some scholars argue that," without giving any sources for these supposed contrary opinions.

Get this from the library if you must, read the first portion, but get rid of it and read some real histories of Spain once you get to the 20th century.

[Boudewijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

In A Concise History of Spain, William D. Phillips Jr. takes us on an impressive journey through time, covering the entire history of Spain from the prehistoric cave paintings in Altamira, the influential Roman and Moorish periods, up to the modern democratic state of today.

Phillips Jr. manages to highlight the most important historical points without sacrificing depth. Yes, this is a 'concise' history, but nevetheless provided me a solid understanding of the complex history of Spain.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traveling through Spain can quickly get a bit bewildering if you're dipping into its many-layered history here and there and everywhere and getting bombarded with a whole procession of names of monarchs, generals, battles and all the rest. Navigating all this and getting a general lay of the historical landscape is where a concise but sweeping history survey like this one comes in very handy, of course. Its conciseness is its strength and its weakness, however, in that you learn about a vast array of historical events in a very superficial way.

Not surprisingly, the parts of the book that are about the periods I know the most about -- the Napoleonic occupation of 1808-1814, the Civil War of the 1930's, and the period from 1975 onwards -- are also the least satisfying. From those parts of the book, I learned the least new information, and in fact sometimes fundamentally disagreed with the authors' interpretations. Most glaringly, their treatment of the Civil War comes from a position of surprising sympathy for General Franco, the dictator who won the war and then stuck around to run things for the next 40 years until his death in 1975. Whatever the state of political and civil unrest may have been in Spain under the Republic he rebelled against and overthrew in the 1930's, can the deaths of 500,000 Spaniards -- most of whom did not die in combat but were rather executed by Franco's troops, police and Falange death squads -- possibly be justified? And the 40 years of dictatorship that followed? That requires a very warped value system to support. The only good thing to be said about Franco is that he chose his successor, King Juan Carlos, very well. Since Franco claimed to be a staunch monarchist, though, it was certainly curious that he waited until he was dead to bring back a Bourbon king!

Moving to more recent events, the authors' explanation of the sudden fall of the conservative Partido Popular government in the elections of 2004 is highly misleading. Days before the election, a bomb attack on several trains in Madrid killed 200 people, and the government immediately blamed Basque terrorists. The government had staked much of its reputation for law and order on its largely successful years-long suppression of Basque terrorism. It soon became apparent to police, within a matter of hours of the attack, that in fact it was the work of Islamic terrorists -- yet president Jose Maria Aznar stuck to his Basque story, for no obvious reason other than that it suited his preferred narrative. Voters turned on Aznar and his party not because of the attack or even because the government's policy of support for the US occupation of Iraq might have provoked an Islamic terrorist response, but rather because the president was seen as lying.

Yet these disagreements with the authors' explanations of some events and some historical periods don't change the fact that the book still provides an excellent overview of Spanish history, particularly the history of the Hapsburg era, which covers Spain's golden age of empire. In the 1500's and 1600's, with wealth pouring in from the colonies of the New World and elsewhere, and with the Hapsburgs also ruling over both Spain as well as vast European holdings that covered parts of modern Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Italy, Spain was the first global empire. That story is told extremely well, as is that of the Bourbon kings in the 1700's whose dynasty came to the throne when the last of the Hapsburgs died with no heirs in 1700.

All in all, this book was well worth reading, even if certain parts of it didn't ring true or ran counter to my value system.

[Bryan Cebulski]

Sometimes concise is a little too concise! I got enough to know which areas of Spanish history I would like to look into more, but I can't say I got a solid sense of anything that was covered here. Would have liked more discussion of art and culture too--this is mostly political and economic history. I mean we get Goya and Cervantes but that's about it.

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 5 out of 5]

En intressant översikt som fokuserar på samband, och rör sig ledigt över de olika politiktangerande ytorna - normer, juridik, ekonomi, kultur, religion, personliga relationer. Eftersom den täcker in hela perioden mellan Rom och Francos död är den naturligtvis inte jättedjup, men den är en mycket bra källa till personer att läsa vidare om. Söker man en bra översiktskälla om Spanien, är denna väl värd att läsa.

[Ailed · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great survey of Spanish history which I sorely needed since I had been forgetting what I learned in school. Unfortunately, since it is so short, a lot of events, people, etc. are left out. The Franco regime, though, was treated with a "it-wasn't-so-bad" attitude that I found deeply troubling.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not review the first part of the book on medieval Spain. The review begins with Christopher Columbus a few years before the discovery of the Americas and ends at the beginning of the Spanish civil war. The book is dense and definitely recommended reading. I specified the page number whenever the review quotes almost literally from the book. (also posted at http://clockhands.wordpress.com/2012/...)

Christopher Columbus, probably born in Genoa, gained valuable knowledge sailing the Atlantic as a merchant. At first, in Portugal, he failed to gain royal backing for an expedition that would reach Asia by sailing across the Atlantic ocean. He then moved to Castile and gained the backing of the Catholic monarchs, Isabel and Fernando. A westward route to Asia would be very profitable to the Spanish crown as it would circumvent the monopoly that the Portuguese had secured over the route around Africa.
Columbus’s first voyage was a success. He reached the Bahamas and explored modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The sailors then built a camp and Columbus returned to Spain. He touched ground in March 1493 and reported to the king and queen about the new world. He secured permission for a second voyage and sailed towards to Bahamas once more. He reached the island then called Hispaniola and found that all his men were all dead, killed in disputes with the native inhabitants. p.122

The natives would grow more and more hostile and Columbus’s efforts to maintain peace failed. Annoyed, the monarchs would send Francisco de Bobadilla to investigate the situation. Bobadilla sailed across the ocean and saw for himself. He then proceeded to seize Columbus and sent him home in chains in December 1500. p.123

Columbus was allowed to keep his title and property but his authority was ruined. Spain then managed to instigate a bureaucratic structure in the new world, based on the Spanish system, that would rule the new colonies.

In the following decades, Spain managed to make immense territorial claims in the new world. To secure her claims, the monarchs would marry their daughters to European rulers, aiming to build a diplomatic wall around France — the traditional enemy of Aragon. Their daughter Isabel married a Portuguese prince, and their daughter Catalina was meant to marry Arthur prince of Wales, before he died in 1501. Catalina remained in France and ended up marrying Henry VIII, Arthur’s brother. p.125

By the time of Fernando’s death, the inheritance rules brought Charles of Ghent, the son of Isabel and Fernando’s daughter Joanna of Castile. Thus the union between Castile and Aragon lived on. Charles of Ghent would also inherit the Burgundian and Habsburg lands of his other grandparents. p.127 He came to be known as Carlos I of Spain, or Charles V — holy Roman emperor. He of course reigned over an immense empire, including parts of modern-day Netherlands and Italy.

Charles’s foreign policy was dominated by the continuing struggle with the Islamic world, and Spain’s commitment to empire-building. Not to mention the threat posed by the Protestant revolution — the year is 1517.

Spain continued to fight with France. In the war against the French in 1535-39, the French king allied with the Ottomans to stem the power of his Habsburg rival and even aided Ottoman attacks in the Western Mediterranean. This act scandalized all of Christendom. p.141

Later during his reign, in 1555, Carlos was forced to accept that he could not reunite the Germanies, and signed the peace of Augsburg with the union of Lutheran princes. The peace of Augsburg established relative freedom of religion for a prince and his domain. Soon after Carlos abdicated the throne and parcelled out his empire to his relatives. The Spanish and Austrian branches of the Habsburg dynasty would remain separate, though closely linked through affection, intermarriage, and shared international policies. p.142

Philip II of Spain, son and successor of Carlos then ruled Spain and its empire. He settled the regal court in Madrid in 1561. Madrid was a relatively unimportant city at the time but its location in the center of Spain was ideal. p.144 Unhappy with the Protestant rule of England, Philip II oversaw the construction of the famous Spanish armada. The armada left from Lisbon in May of 1588, the English were on the alert with a comparable fleet of their own. Battered by storms and harassed by the English fleet, the Spanish armada never attempted an invasion of English soil. The whole expedition turned out to be in vain. p.151

In the 1630s, Europe was in the midst of the Thirty Years’ War. In 1635, France entered the fray against Spain and defeated the Spanish at Rocroi in the Netherlands. This was the first time in 150 years that a Spanish army had lost a land battle. Later in 1640, both Catalonia and Portugal rebelled against the Spanish crown — exhausted by the rulers’ demands for revenue and troops to pursue the war effort. p.163 In 1648, the peace of Westphalia recognized the independence of the northern Netherlands in exchange for Dutch recognition of Spain’s colonies.

Overall, the population of Spain greatly decreased in the 17th century — from about 8 million people down to 7.5 million. Reasons for this drop include the epidemics of 1597-1602, the expulsion of the Moriscos (converted Muslims), the Thirty Years’ War, and another round of epidemics in 1647-1652. Migration to the Indies also drained about 4 to 5 thousand people from the Spanish economy. p.165

An agrictultural crisis followed, as well as urban decline. The only exception being the city of Madrid who showed signs of growth as host of the royal court. In the final years of Felipe IV’s reign — from 1621 to 1655, after Spain had made peace with its enemies and had settled reluctantly into the role of a secondary power in Europe, there were signs that the population and the economy were on the rise again. The reign of Felipe IV should therefore be seen as a cautionary tale of overextended power, demonstrating the costs of cultural and political hegemony. p.167

Philip IV’s son Carlos II reigned over Spain from 1665 to 1700. His reign oversaw the Nine Years’ War where most of Europe fought against France. As Carlos II lay dying without an heir, he was convinced to name a grandson of Louix XIV, Philip of Anjou, as his heir. The reasoning went that France was the only nation able to prevent the disintegration of the Spanish empire. p.170 Louis XIV gave his blessing to Philip of Anjou, who became Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain. p.171

Once again scared at the idea of a French hegemony in Europe, France’s enemies allied with Spanish loyalist forces would fight in the war of the Spanish succession, from 1701 to 1714. Although Spain was an active combatant in that war, the other powers continued to view France as their main adversary, with Spain and its empire seen more as the prize in the conflict. p.171 The role of Spain in the war of the Spanish succession ended with the treaty of Utrecht (1713). Although the war continued on Spanish territory in the form of the siege of Barcelona, who had not supported the Bourbon claim. Barcelona was besieged for almost a year but finally fell in September 1714. After the war, Philip of Anjou was confirmed as king of Spain.

Felipe V died in 1746, having spent his final years incapacitated by mental illness. His reign had begun and ended in warfare, but it had also seen a substantial restructuring of government, the start of economic revival, and a reassertion of Spain’s role in European politics. p.181

Though Fernando VI’s reign saw the end of French tutelage, the latest intellectual currents from France and elsewhere circulated among the Spanish elite and characterized Spain’s version of the Enlightenment. Spain adopted the enlightened passion for scientific investigation, governmental reform, and social justice that affected much of the rest of Europe. However, Spanish intellectuals rejected the anti-religious and anti-Spanish stance that marked the writings of Voltaire and others. p.186

After an attempt at remaining neutral during the Seven Years’ War, Spain entered the fray in 1761 after signing the so-called Family Pact with Bourbon France. In the maritime war that followed, Spain failed to regain Gibraltar and lost Havana and Manila. p.187 In the complicated negotiations ending the war in 1763, Spain regained Havana, and Manila. She also gained Louisiana from France but lost Sacramento and Florida. The war ended with France defeated and England in control of the eastern part of North America. The Spanish empire remained largely intact. p.188

Carlos III reigned from 1759 to 1788. He oversaw a reorganization of Spain’s economic structures to support a rising population. All over Europe, the eighteenth century saw an increase in the number of inhabitants, both rural and urban, and every state faced the challenge of feeding them. The problem was acute in Spain where even now only one third of the land is suitable for farming on a regular basis. The scarcity of arable land was one reason for the great importance of migratory herding. p.189

In addition to traditional activities such as sponsoring art and music, the crown reformed education and added to the university curriculum new scientific developments, such as the physics of Isaac Newton. The king and his ministers also worked to raise the educational level of the clergy and to curb the remaining power of the inquisition, which was increasingly anachronistic by the eighteenth century. p.191

As the Americans were fighting the Revolutionary War, Spain threw its support against England and fought what came to be known as the Second Maritime War from 1779 to 1783. Following various successes, Spain was able to demand the return of Florida and the Mediterranean island of Menorca from the British. p.193

The count of Aranda negotiated the Treaty of Versailles in 1783. Despite Spain’s support for the revolution, Aranda had no illusions about the likely future of the former Birtish colonies. As he wrote to Carlos III in 1783, “This Federal Republic was born a pygmy and needed the support of Spain and France to achieve independence. The day will come when it will grow into a giant and forget the benefits received from the two powers and will think only of its own enlargement … Then it will aspire to the conquest of New Spain.” p.193

At the end of Carlos III’s reign, there is no question that Spain stood higher in prestige and economic clout than it had in the late seventeenth century. That is the legacy of the Bourbon reforms and of the active foreign policy pursued by Felipe V and Carlos III. p.194

The French Revolution occurred in 1789 and Spain maintained a neutral stance until 1792 when neutrality was no longer an option. The French revolutionary forces were trying Louis XVI for treason and the Reign of Terror was establishing itself. After the Terror subsided and the more moderate Directory took over, Spain signed the Treaty of Basel that ended the war in July of 1795. p.197

Napoleon took control of France in 1799 and in the Napoleonic wars that ensued, Spain and France fought on the same side in the Battle of Trafalgar off the Atlantic coast of southwestern Spain. Admiral Nelson’s British fleet all but destroyed the Spanish navy. In that battle, Spain lost not only her fleet and her pretensions to play a larger role in European politics, but also the means of expanding her internal economy through trade an defending her empire overseas. p.200

In a repetition of the past, Spain decided to cut her losses and allied with powerful France to form the continental bloc against England. The treaty was controversial in Spain and Fernando, the king’s son, led a failed uprising. The monarchy was discredited and suffered a humiliating dependence on Napoleon who was disgusted with the pathetic Spanish Bourbons. In 1808, Carlos IV abdicated in favor of Napoleon and less than a month later, Napoleon conferred the Spanish throne on his elder brother Joseph Bonaparte. However, most Spaniards remained loyal to Fernando and a savage war against the French occupation would follow. p.201

On May 2, 1808, a first rising against Joseph Bonaparte occurred in Madrid. The French repressed the uprising violently with the Mameluke cavalry recruited in Egypt. This act would ensure that the fierce resistance to the French occupation would continue. p.207 All over Spain, juntas of citizens would arm themselves and fight in the name of Fernando, supposedly captive in France. They accepted the help of the British and Great Britain sent 40,000 to 60,000 men to what they called the Peninsular War. p.208 After several years of indecisive battles and guerilla war, a combined army of British, Spanish, and Portuguese troops defeated the French in 1813 at Vitoria in the Basque country. The war was to officially end in 1814. p.210

Fernando VII then took the throne but did not rise up to the expectations. In fact, while both factions in the war had supported the institution of a parliamentary democracy, the new king set about to reinstigate a traditional monarchy. Many historians rank Fernando VII as one of the worst monarchs in Spanish history. p.211

A military coup organized by Rafael Riego in 1820 forced the king to push through liberal legislation and to reinstate the previous Spanish constitution. This came to be known as the Trienio Liberal — three years of liberal government.

The Bourbons had brought to Spain the Salic law, in effect preventing Fernando’s daughter Isabel from inheriting the crown. Instead, the king’s brother Carlos was first in line. Fernando then decided to revoke the Salic law in 1833, making Isabel his heir. In reaction to this, Carlos and the apostolicos launched a civil war, the first of many so-called Carlist wars. p.213 Although ostensibly defined by a dynastic struggle over which branch of the Bourbons should inherit the throne of Spain, the Carlist wars in fact represented a much broader struggle over the nature of the Spanish state. To the Carlists, the only legitimate bases for the state were the truths propounded by the Catholic Church. They favored autonomy for the Spanish church in religious matters, and a very close relationship between church and state. p.213

The civil war lasted for 6 years and saw the liberals prevail and Isabel succeed to the throne. The war notably brought about the abolition of the tithe. However, in Navarre, the Carlist stronghold, traditional privileges were left untouched. In other words, though the war ended, the underlying conflicts that spawned it remained unresolved. p.215 Isabel turned out to be vain and capricious. She never seemed to understand the difference between her personal whims and her duties as a constitutional monarch. She might have been a disaster for Spain in the days when monarchs held real power. In the modern world of the nineteenth century, she was a disaster mainly for the institution of monarchy itself. p.217

A second Carlist war in 1847-1849 occurred mostly in rural Catalonia. And the upheavals of 1848 elsewhere in Europe had no parallel in Spain. p.218

In 1854, progressive army officers issued a proclamation demanding better government, less corruption, and more efficiency. The rulers refused to adopt the new plan and a coup d’etat ensued, known as La Vicalvarada. The military government somewhat succeeded in achieving greater efficiency with less corruption. But their rule was repressive. p.219 Europe entered a recession in 1866 and Spain saw bread riots in the cities. In 1868, a new military proclamation emerged from Cadiz and after a brief skirmish between the military rebels and the forces that remained loyal to the queen, Isabel went into exile and the coup conspirators went shopping for a replacement monarch. p.221

The new provisional government reformed suffrage law to include all males of 25 years and older. This was the most inclusive electorate in the world at the time. p.221 When the provisional goverment offered Leopold of Hohenzollern the throne, his acceptance provoked the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and Leopold later declined the offer. p.222 The provisional government later found a king in Amadeo of Savoy, the son of the Italian king Victor Emmanuel II. However, the government was inapt and the population resented the military conscription to maintain the war effort. Amadeo I abdicated on February 11, 1873, after just two years on the throne. The day after Amadeo abdicated, the Cortes proclaimed Spain a republic, comparing their rebellion to England’s Glorious Revolution. But the new republic would only last eleven months. p.223 The politicians could not govern and in 1874, yet another military coup occurred. The generals issued a proclamation demanding the restoration of the Bourbons, with Alfonso XII as monarch — the son of Isabel. The new king accepted and ruled Spain from 1874 to 1885. Alfonso’s reign notably saw the annihilation of the Carlists in 1876. p.225

The Cuban rebellion that occurred in 1895 coincided with a burst of belligerent nationalism in the United States. Irresponsible journalism and an opportunity to win military glory precipitated Spain and the United States into war. The ensuing war was a disaster for Spain and when it ended in 1898, Spain lost what remained of its historic empire, and suffered a tremendous blow to its national self-image. p.229

Surprisingly, Spain’s neutrality in the first World War was accompanied by relative economic prosperity. However, Woodrow Wilson’s support for self-determination encouraged Catalan separatists to renew their demands for autonomy. And the Russian revolution in March 1917 encouraged the Spanish republicans to renew their push to oust the king Alfonso XIII. p.237 The following years were marked by labor unrest and renewing rebellion in Morocco. All these problems culminated in yet another coup by General Miguel Primo de Rivera. Most Spaniards welcome the coup and the ensuing military dictatorship ruled Spain from September 1923 to December 1925. p.241

Primo’s greatest achievement was the victorious end of the war in Morocco. Francisco Franco, rapidly rising through the army ranks, helped to organize it. p.242 A student strike in January 1930 marked the beginning of the end, suggesting the breadth of opposition to the regime. When both the king and the army leaders signaled their withdrawal of support from Primo’s government, he resigned, leaving behind a complicated legacy. Despite the pacification of Morocco and the restoration of social and economic order, Primo had deliberately destroyed the parliamentary basis of the constitutional monarchy. By drawing Liberal and Conservative parties into his government, he had destroyed the center of the Spanish political spectrum. His rule left Spain more polarized than ever. p.244

The king asked different generals to form a new government but the army leaders made clear that they would not support the king any longer. Alfonso XIII then left Spain without abdicating, as his grandmother Isabel II had done in 1868. p.247 A provisional government forming the Second Republic followed. But the Second Republic faced distrust and the maintenance of public order proved to be the thorniest problem faced during those years.

Several failed coup attempts occured in the 1920s and 1930s until a coup in 1936, led by Emilio Mola, proclaimed the overthrow of the Republic. Francisco joined the rebels, soon to be called Nationalists and its factions soon controlled a third of Spain’s territory. The Spanish civil war had begun.

[Emylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

good background for some of the titles I've got in my TBR

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am going to Spain in a few months and I picked up this book to get a quick background on Spain's history which it delivered nicely. It goes through about 3 millenniums of history in about 300 pages so it moves very quickly but still hits all the highlights.

[Keith Karr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book lives up to its title as a concise history of Spain. After setting the stage by outlining the geography and topography of the Iberian Peninsula, the story of the land that would become the modern nation of Spain is begun. Spain has always had a significance in Western history, sometimes on the periphery, sometimes in the center, but never entirely absent. From early Greek colonies, to connections with Carthage and Hannibal- Rome's early archenemies- to its relative stability after the collapse of the Roman Empire; Spain may not have stood in the spotlight, but had a considerable influence on Western history.

Spanish society was shaped by the Islamic invasion and ascendancy, where European, Jewish and Islamic society coexisted and competed. This complicated period is shown to be more than either an irenic utopia, or a period of constant conflict. Conflict between factions within the Islamic world was as noteworthy as the conflict with the Christian forces. For the Christian remnant, conflict with the Islamic forces lead to the consolidation of the disparate groups into what would turn into the modern kingdom of Spain. It is sad to note that the degree of toleration shown during the Islamic period was not reciprocated once the Christians gained the upper hand. This period laid the foundation both for Spain's and Europe's intellectual reemergence in the Renaissance.

Spain rapidly emerged as the preeminent power in Europe, and through its American colonies, of the world. Through a strategic series of marriages Spain would control the Holy Roman Empire as well as the largest overseas colonial holdings. The apogee of Spain's rise contributed to its slow but steady decline, as the marriages and succession demands which enabled Spain's hegemony devolved into its division and decline. Mediocre and unstable leadership combined with a rapidly evolving international situation lead to both a decline in their international stature, but a flowering of their culture. This instability would reach its height during the Napoleonic War, when Spain lost not only its independence, but also most of its colonies.

Spain's modern history is defined by Franco, who swept aside the weak and tottering remnants of the Spanish government with his strong and uncompromising rule. The Spanish Civil War, while isolated to the Iberian Peninsula, became a proxy for conflict between Soviets and Nazis that would break out across the rest of Europe. In consequence of Franco's regime, Spain was forced to rely on their own resources as they were isolated by the rest of the world. As Franco aged, he loosened his grip on power, an paved the way for the restoration of a figurehead Bourbon dynasty and a freely elected Parliament.

Spain's moment at the center of European was relatively short. However, its contributions to Western Culture and history are impressive. William D. Phillips has admirably written a capable overview of the history of culture of Spain. It invites the reader to a deeper understanding not only of the better known eras, such as the height of its exploration and colonial empire, but also its times of greater obscurity. Comprehensive and detailed, yet not overwhelmingly so when it is easy to get lost in the muddle of dynastic upheaval. This is the ideal introduction to Spain's history.

[J. Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough history of Spain, beginning with a geographical survey, including prehistorical archaeology uncovering human remains and pre-homo sapiens societies. The book gives a good account of the Roman and Visigoth eras, the Moor years, the reconquest, the Hapsburg royalty, the Bourbon royalty, and the small kingdoms and difficulties uniting Spain. There is an account of the Spanish Civil War and the reign of Franco. The book was recent enough to include the abdication of King Carlos and the early days of King Philippe.

The biggest difficulty I had was my unfamiliarity with all the names and places that seemed to come at me as out of a firehose. But it was easy enough to let them slide by and hang on to the people I needed to remember in order to get the gist of the stories. It probably would have been easier for me to retain this material had I read it instead of listened to it on Audible.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the dramatic history of Spain for those who might be traveling there for the first time or are just curious to begin learning. Without overwhelming the reader with names and dates, the writers do a great job of both giving the reader a sense of the course of 2000+ years of Spanish history and putting that history in the broader context of events elsewhere in Europe and the world. I enjoyed how the authors occasionally reference popular books or movies that dramatize specific events. The book also has some lovely photos and an extensive bibliography for further reading. Family trees of the Hapsburgs and the Bourbons would have been helpful, as would have a more critical copy edit (I caught several sentences repeated verbatim a few pages apart), but by and large definitely worth reading.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Already knew most of Spain’s history but this served as a great refresher. These books will never be 5 stars unfortunately because it is impossible to condense a rich history into 300-something pages AND make it enjoyable to read. I do think there was an unnecessary focus on politics surrounding the Spanish civil war/party names, and other details that shouldn’t have taken priority over the effects that the war had on civilians / the relationships that autonomous communities like Catalonia have with greater Spain. I also felt like a chapter or the inclusion of details related to linguistics was missing, as Spain = Spanish / castellano. Overall this is a great & easy layover read if you’re traveling to Spain!

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Survey course in the history of Spain, from pre-history into the 21st century. Useful for getting a sense of who ruled in Iberia over the years and how the country was created. Provocative treatment (for me, at least) of the Spanish Civil War, plausibly arguing that Franco wasn't horrible and that all the Republicans weren't angelic. The authors, on occasion, are prudish & unnecessarily judgmental. My favorite line in the whole book: "Doctors kept [Franco's] failing body alive on machines for more than a month, providing material for tasteless humor on television in the United States." As in, https://youtu.be/axByUFSa7N8?t=55

[Mike Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phillips’ history is well written and organized to provide an overview of significant details in a balanced manner. Although he and his wife, his co-author, clearly are fans of Spain, they do not hesitate to criticize aspects of the society and culture. The main theme focuses on Spain’s role as a crossroads between Europe and Africa as well as between the Mediterranean and Atlantic worlds. The diverse cultural heritage of Spain is well explained. It is a thorough, yet brief, account of the nation’s history.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely detailed for an introduction and just what I was looking for, never having systematically read Spanish history (only as they intersect with other histories). Of course there is the usual focus on royalty and nobles, but of course those are the most documented. And I would've enjoyed more detail about the Moorish kingdoms and accomplishments, as well as that of the Jewish people. But this was a helpful foundation for a trip to Spain, to give me a context to fit the historical sites I saw in.

[Seth Woodley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Concise History of Spain is a fast-paced overview of Spanish history, a subject on which I am not well-versed.. Spain's diminished presence on the global stage over the last century can lead one to forget the country's importance in history. There are sections of the book that lack depth, but it is, after all, a concise history. It is well-written and filled with information. Spain has a fascinating history, and this book provides a helpful introduction to it.

[Giovanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having moved to Spain a couple of years back, I wanted to close some of the enormous gaps in my understanding of the unique history of this country and the reasons of the huge differences with other countries in the EU. The book definitely helped and gave me a decent knowledge. There is a certain amount of repetition that does create some confusion. This could have been avoided with a tighter editing process.

[J.D. McConnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history with excellent pacing, few digressions, and only limited opinion from the authors. The audio narration is especially well done. If you want to know the major events from pre-Roman times to modern day with without distractions, this history is an excellent choice. It’s helpful to have maps ready for reference unless you’re familiar with the geography and cities of Spain already.

[Irina Gkini · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a very honest and well thought introduction to Spanish history. I particularly appreciated the balanced account of issues such as the Franco Regime and its emphasis on the cultural aspects of Spanish history

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good short introduction to the history of a complex country. But this is only a beginning. To understand what made Spain span needs much more reading.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of information but an odd mix of dry fact and personal commentary (someone did *not* like Alfonso XIII)

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too dull to finish.

[Mark Bay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

This book provides an excellent and easy to read overview of the history of Spain. Anyone interested in Spain should read it.

[Jeff Ragan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, enjoyable, and pretty balanced overview of the nation of Spain!

[Dmitry Khvatov · Rating 2 out of 5]

I skipped the chapter about Napoleon. Sorry.

[Jahan Sagafi · Rating 2 out of 5]

painful. like reading from the encyclopedia. seemed to view history like a 1950s high school class - all memorization of dates and "great men"-focused. had to give up.

[Maki Iatridis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written- great summary overview of thousands of years as a starting point to understanding the history