The Penguin History of Modern Spain: 1898 to the Present

by Nigel Townson

A revelatory new history of Spain, from the late nineteenth century to the twenty-first'Spain is different,' proclaimed the Franco regime in the 1940s, keen to attract foreign tourists. For the most part, the world has agreed. From the end of its 'glorious empire' in 1898 to the dazzling World Cup victory in 2010, the prevailing narrative of modern Spain has emphasized the country's peculiarity. Generations of historians and readers have been transfixed by its implosion into civil war in the 1930s, seduced by the valiant struggle of the republicans, horrified by the barbarity of the dictatorship which followed. Franco's Spain was seen as an anomaly in the midst of prosperous and permissive post-war Western Europe. But, as Nigel Townson shows in this richly layered and exciting new history, beyond the familiar image, there lies a radically different history of of a dynamic and progressive society that fits firmly into the narrative of modern Europe.Drawing on over forty years of post-Franco scholarship, The Penguin History of Modern Spain transforms our knowledge of Spain and its politics, society, economics and culture. It interweaves cutting-edge Spanish-led research - never before published in English - and testimonies of peasants, housewives, soldiers, workers, entrepreneurs, feminists and worker-priests, for an original and surprising portrait, which allows us, at last, to discern the country behind the veil of propaganda and romantic myths which still endure today

Genres: History, Spain, Nonfiction, Spanish Literature

608 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2023

Reviews

[Keen Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I suppose some of the main reasons why a country like Spain has always been so far behind most of other main nations in terms of historical coverage is a stunted and delayed industrial revolution and their absence from the cold war and both world wars, and so in that sense they have been largely irrelevant in terms of global, political and historical interest in the modern era at least.

This demolishes some of the myths around the Spanish Civil War, showing that only a tiny minority were ever interested in armed conflict (as is usually the case in most wars). But I have to say I really didn't enjoy the author's voice or style at all. The style of writing made this really hard to warm to, it wasn’t awful, but there just seemed to be a bland monotone that came through a little too strongly and seemed to dominate the feel of the history. Overall this is the kind of writing that can really put me off historical writing.

[Book busy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay. So, some of the objective info relayed via this book was interesting HOWEVER it took me an absolute age to read as it was printed on bible-esque paper with mouse paw sized font and basically consisted of a slightly opinionated relay of fact after fact and date after date, to the point where I found reading this book for prolonged periods actually straining due to how bored I was. I do consume non fiction and this simply was an incredibly dry book I will only use for factual reference. More like a textbook than a "book' and definitely not "ideal for general readers" despite the outlandish claim of the Financial Times. Never again.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little dry, but did make me want to read more about the specific bits that interested me- which is largely the point of a book like this.

[History Today]

In the 1960s, Francoist tourism slogans pushed the notion that ‘Spain is different’. It wasn’t, and never had been, but the idea stuck and persisted for longer than it should have. So long, in fact, that Nigel Townson’s new history takes disproving it as its central thesis.

An up-to-date history of modern Spain, from 1898 to the present, is a mammoth task, but one which Townson, a historian educated in Britain and working in Madrid, is well placed to attempt. A respected expert on the history of the Second Republic – the period spanning the 1931 deposition of Alfonso XIII, to Franco’s victory in the Spanish Civil War in 1939 – he guides the reader from the regenerationist debates that followed the 1898 disaster, when Spain lost the last of her colonies following the Spanish-American war, and the imperial hangover that ensued, to the not-so-peaceful transition to democracy between 1975 and 1982. He does so via various welfare advances and corruption scandals.

Given Townson’s expertise, it is unsurprising that the book is particularly strong when discussing the politics and challenges faced by the Second Republic and its descent into all out civil war. Townson suggests, convincingly, that Spain’s centrist parties in particular could have done more to stabilise the young democracy. There is, however, some emphasis on the history of the left over the right, which is surprising given that the outcome of the Spanish Civil War was a right-wing dictatorship that lasted for 40 years. Townson draws on important works on Francoism, but his historiographical well is not as deep as it might have been. Francoism, particularly its early period (1936-45), is one of the most heavily researched areas in Spanish history, and it would be impossible to integrate all the latest research into a few chapters. And, of course, this is not just a book about Franco.

Read the rest of the review at HistoryToday.com.

Mercedes Peñalba-Sotorrío is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at Manchester Metropolitan University.

[Jack Caulfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up on this very quickly. Dismal stuff, badly written, parcelled into little sections of one or two pages so it can never build up any momentum, determined to present you with citation after citation rather than synthesizing information, apparently written to prove the thesis that Spain's history is exactly like every other nation's and has no unique characteristics. A review quoted in the front calls it 'admirably dispassionate'.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Angloliberal, centrist take on Spain’s 20th century. The book is at its most compelling when engaging with recent scholarship on the Francoist period, particularly in its attention to the overlooked role of grassroots movements during the regime’s final decade. The writing style tends to be stiff and textbook-like, which can make it a bit of a slog in parts.

[Giovanni García-Fenech · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot, but beware: in his zeal to do away with long-held myths about Spain’s Civil War, Townson spends a great deal of time focused on the failures of the Republic and very little on the evils of the dictatorship, ending up as a bit of a Franco apologist.

[John Breslin · Rating 2 out of 5]

How to take a fascinating subject and make it dull.