Books About Spain´s Recent Past

A Little Knowledge of History Can Help Conversational Spanish

Aug 10, 2008

Reading about a a country´s culture when learning its language has certain advantages. Not least because students can read in their own language and still feel virtuous

Reading in English won’t improve Spanish grammar, or pronunciation, or vocabulary, but it does give learners a solid platform of knowledge when they are ready to talk with local Spanish speakers.

There are any number of books on Spain and no list can be exhaustive. Reading this small compilation should give an understanding of the rapid changes in Spain in just a couple of generations, and provide conversational topics other than paella, fiestas and bullfighting.

Giles Tremlett

The most recent volume, The Ghost’s of Spain: Travels Through a Country’s Hidden Past, {Faber and Faber, 2006} explores the “pact of forgetting.” Grappling with the question as to why Spaniards chose, until very recently, to ignore the uncomfortable facts of their civil war is not as grim as it sounds. This is a well written and often amusing introduction to some of the surprising facts of Spanish life today. There is a particularly informative account of flamenco, its derivations, traditions and transitions and delightful passages on Spanish childhood.

John Hooper

John Hooper’s completely revised The New Spaniards {Penguin, 1995} provides an entertaining view of many subjects, including the family, the army and the Church. According to Paul Preston this is a valuable book for anyone “… who wants to know what Spain is really like.”

Norman Lewis

Both the above volumes paint lively pictures of the razzmatazz of modern Spain and go some way to explaining it. Norman Lewis’s Voices of the Old Sea [Hamish Hamilton, 1984] describes a very different Spain. Always with affection, and never condescendingly, he captures the often bizarre customs of a small fishing village. There is something of the relationships between different classes here with the whiff of isolationism that has caused such turmoil in Spain’s history. This captures the period just prior to the transition to mass tourism, but draws on traditions that were almost medieval.

Alastair Boyd

The Road from Ronda: Travels with a horse through Southern Spain [Harper Collins, 1969; reissued in Spain, Santana Books 2004] is a charming account of rural Spain in the late1960´s. Once again there is an insight into class structures, based largely on people’s different relationships to land ownership. The author always presents an evenly balanced portrait of the Spanish populace, often with wit and verve.

James A. Michener

It has been said of Michener that he sold his books by the pound. Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections [Ballantine Books, 1968; copyright held by Random House Inc.] is certainly a weighty tome and the worse for it. Nevertheless it is still an important book. First published in 1968 it includes a useful section on bullfighting and a lyrical plea for conservation of Las Marismas, a wetland area near Sevilla and an important breeding, and feeding, area for many European bird species. A surprisingly tedious work from such an experienced author it is probably better dipped into in parts rather than digested whole.

Taken as a whole these volumes provide a snapshot of most of the themes and issues faced by modern Spain. Of course, as the Spanish economy appears to be in free fall, a reaction to change could be just around the corner. Especially a reaction to the more liberal ideas currently prevalent.

The copyright of the article Books About Spain´s Recent Past in Learning Spanish is owned by Michael Carroll. Permission to republish Books About Spain´s Recent Past in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.