Description

‘The best account in a single volume of Spain since 1898, exemplary for concision and for accuracy in the use of language, as well as for equanimity and generosity of spirit’ Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, TLS

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 Spain: 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

Publisher Review

Impressive… A radical account of Spain’s fate in modern times — Martin Chilton * Independent * This book is impressively researched and admirably dispassionate, and will rightfully become the standard survey of modern Spain available in the English language — Gerard DeGroot * The Times * Magnificent… Townson is a leading historian of the country… this stunning and long-overdue pursuit of the truth is his masterpiece — Simon Heffer * Telegraph * A detailed survey of political, economic and social history, illuminating many of the trends, tensions and power players that have influenced the course of Spain’s modern era * Spectator * This is the best account in a single volume of Spain since 1898, exemplary for concision and for accuracy in the use of language, as well as for equanimity and generosity of spirit … The Penguin History of Modern Spain explicitly addresses foreigners, taking no knowledge for granted, but Spaniards would do well to heed it * TLS * Nigel Townson has produced a superb synthesis of the new Spanish history, while offering an original and arresting narrative of his own. — Professor Jose Alvarez Junco, Complutense University of Madrid Nigel Townson’s compelling analysis of twentieth-century Spain combines a deep knowledge of European history with the novelist’s eye for the telling detail. — Professor Michael Seidman, University of North Carolina Townson provides an engaging and accessible account of Spain’s tumultuous twentieth century. Convincingly dismantling the myth of Spanish exceptionalism, he shows that the lights and shadows of modern Spanish history can only be properly understood in the broader European context. This is a compelling and even-handed book — Julius Ruiz, Edinburgh University A veritable tour de force, this account of Spain’s long twentieth century is a model of clarity, organization and economy alike, whilst at the same time offering interpretations that are as bold as they are original — Professor Emeritus Charles J. Esdaile, FRHistS, University of Liverpool Nigel Townson’s book provides a marvellous overview of more than one hundred years of Spanish history. It is based on wide-ranging research, original in approach and accessible in style — Professor Tom Buchanan, University of Oxford A splendid study, a true magnum opus. This is absolutely the best history of twentieth-century Spain in either language — Professor Stanley Payne, University of Wisconsin-Madison Impressive — Tony Barber * Financial Times * Compelling … Impressively for a book that covers a long and tumultuous era, Townson makes space for recent research, much of which will be new to the general reader … An up-to-date history of modern Spain is a mammoth task, but one which Townson is well placed to attempt — Dr Mercedes Penalba-Sotorrio * History Today *