Portugal Books

Jo Labanyi, one of the many excellent English scholars who work in Hispanic studies (a notable other being Melveena McKendrick), writes the book that needed to be written reintroducing the Spanish novel of the nineteenth century to academic readers. Her piece on Juan Valera's PEPITA JIMENEZ may be the best article written on that topic. She of course addresses Clarín, Galdós, Pardo Bazán, and the literary milieu.

With a tremendously helpful general introduction and a bibliography that just won't quit, this is a must-have for "decimononistas."

On our first trip to Portugal we did not know what to expect. The "All in one" guide, not only helped us with the language, but also with buying, eating out,City highlights and Historical settings. The book is a must for any new traveler to Portugal.

Spain and Spanish is a very good book to have if you are going to visit Spain. In fact, this is what I am doing very soon. It has lots of information about money, regions, food, occupations, history and festivals. For instance, it tells what Spanish money is called, pesetas, and what denominations the money comes in. It shows pictures of Spanish money. Some of the regions of Spain have fertile land, fishing, mountains or beach resorts. The food includes a lot of bread and seafood. The drinks include lots of beer, wine, or sherry. A lot of people in Spain make food to export to other countries. Some people fish or work on the automobile industry. The history goes all the way back to 711 A.D. That is when the Muslim Arabs from North Africa invaded Spain. A lot of Spanish festivals have dancing, fireworks and bullfights. Don't wait to get this book. You will go to Spain sometime.

Spain and Spanish is very easy to read. This is because it has a lot of pictures, Spanish words and diagrams. It also has a big map of Spain. The book has 32 very helpful pages. I like books with an index alot. This book has a nice index. I can't compare this book to any other books on Spain because I have never read another book on Spain. There aren't too many books on Spain for kids. I recommend this book highly.

Like so many people who have visited Gibraltar over the years, I have had a love affair with this country ever since I first clapped eyes on what is easily the most famous rock in the world. Whilst my own interest in Gibraltar stems from the superb wreck-diving to be found just offshore, in researching the history of those shipwrecks I found myself drawn into the wider elements of this truly historic piece of real estate time and again. It was, therefore, with a little knowledge of Gibraltar's history that I sat down to read this book and very soon I found myself saying things like; "I've been there" and "I never knew that."

"Gibraltar - A History" is a large book measuring 11" x 8½" and is richly illustrated throughout with images of people, places and artefacts which support a well-told story of the history of Gibraltar. Commencing almost at the beginning of time, the author takes us to AD711 in the very first chapter. Having thus set the background scenery so expertly, we then travel through time in Gibraltar as we are skilfully brought forward - chapter by chapter and conflict by conflict, to the present day.

And, of course, those conflicts are not yet over. One of the very first lessons I learned over 30 years ago was that Gibraltarians are NOT Spanish people - and never were. Perhaps those who think otherwise should read this book. They may be surprised - I don't know. They will certainly be educated.

"Gibraltar - A History" is a book which will stand the test of time because it includes everything you ever wanted to know about this fabulous little country. Maurice Harvey and his publishers have done an excellent job of work here and I congratulate them on a task well done.

NM

I am an advanced Spanish student who has a library of books, a Rosetta membership, etc. with regard to learning Spanish. I have also traveled to Central America to practice the language and my husband is fluent.

My biggest problem is that I feel a little intimidated to interact in spanish because my listening skills are not perfect and my brain takes longer than I am comfortable with to come up with the Spanish I would like to speak. I just got this course yesterday and listened to it for an hour in the car. I was pleasantly surprised at the breadth of topics covered. I guess for a traditional spanish student, you tend to learn grammar, vocab, etc. and you don't focus on one-shot spanish courses like "travel spanish."

This course actually starts with travel spanish in mind, and even though I started on the basic lessons it is more advanced than I expected in that many different verb tenses are used right from the get-go. What a great way to hear those tenses used with many things the advanced learner would already be familiar with - so you can really focus on the tenses and at the same time get a great review of words you may not have completely committed to memory. The only parts I have skipped so far were those covering numbers, and skipping is easy to do because each short lesson is a track on your CD.

Also the kit comes with vocab flashcards. They are not as basic as you might expect. Sure, the majority is made up of words like train, tree and yesterday, but also you will find ones for ankle, gloomy, crowd, etc.

Since I just got this yesterday, I will come back and add more if my opinion changes. I am very pleased so far and I look forward to my next 1 hour in the car tonight!

This book is wonderful! It is packed with spectacular pictures and the quality of the paper is very good, so the pictures are vibrant in the colors. This book makes me want to jump on the next plane to Madeira! Can't wait to visit!

If you like this book about Ibiza, take a look to one of the following links: http://www.balearicpictures.net http://www.mallorcapictures.com http://www.menorcapictures.com http://www.ibizapictures.net http://balearicpictures.net http://mallorcapictures.com http://menorcapictures.com http://ibizapictures.net

Brazilian colonialism is unlike its sisters in other places. Unlike the Americas the natives were not exterminated or removed. Unlike Africa, race did not divide people in sexual relations. In short Brazil was a hybrid. It was a hybrid because of the all important 'go betweens' that this book examines, the priests, slaves and natives who lived together and worked together and produced off spring together. An interesting book.

Seth J. Frantzman

I really like this book. Though not as in depth as the books from the Eyewitness series, it certainly was helpful during our short 2 day stay in Lisbon. Very cute whimsical illustrations.

Unparalleled in the history of warfare, the Luftwaffe's elite "Condor Legion" flattened the remote Basque town of Guernica in April 1937 during the experimental Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939.

This historical novel dissects the facts on why and how the ancient capital of Basque honor and history met such a lurid fate. It picks up history turns it into a minor degree of fiction to enhance realism and drama and culminates it with the infamous bombing operation, openly argued as the lab and crucible of the European war and a preface of events to come in Warsaw, Rotterdam, Pearl Harbor, Dresden and Tokyo.

The use of primary accounts by motley eyewitnesses absorbs the reader into an increasingly suspenseful pace. A restaurant owner, a manufacturer of weapons, a liberal priest, a radical Republican officer and an empathetic nun-turned-into-nurse make up a most credible, yet unconventional "dramatis personae."

The book also provides a generous and abundant narration on the evolution of the strategic buildup of the mission, the tense politics between German pilots and Spanish Francoist officers, the military background in the Basque valleys and villages, and the depiction of Erwin Von Richtofen (cousin of the highly decorated and ultimately fallen Red Baron) as the mastermind of the raid. The book is intelligently written.