Portugal Books

The Spanish Inquisition evokes an image of inquisitors bringing innocent people to trial, rendering them guilty of heresy and burning them at the stake. Torture, confessions made under duress, and the murder of large numbers of Protestants are visualized. Inquisitors and their informants were everywhere, and watched everything. These perceptions of the Spanish Inquisition have come from numerous sources, including books, articles, movies, and are ingrained in many people's view of the Inquisition. The question raised, then, is how historically accurate are these portrayals? Was this the way thing were always done, or is there another side to the story?

While not attempting to take on the challenge of the Spanish Inquisition in its entirety, Sara Nalle presents us with a very different picture of the Inquisition and the inquisitors than are normally seen in the literature. Nalle introduces us to Bartolomé Sánchez, a man who condemned the Catholic Church, the priesthood, the Holy Trinity, and then announcing that he was the second savior, sent to finish Christ's work. Sánchez was taken before the Inquisitor, Cortes for trial.

Cortes is atypical of the traditional view of the inquisitors as bloodthirsty men driven to exterminate those who did not profess the beliefs of the Catholic Church. Sánchez's claim that the Holy Spirit was not part of the Trinity, but that rather Mary was, certainly disturbed Cortes. Sánchez also refused to show deference to the cross, which he stated was evil, because it was a tool of those that killed Christ. Yet, through all of those things, Cortes, the inquisitor, sought a way for Sánchez to escape a death sentence.

Nalle constructed Mad for God from the trial records of Sánchez, and therefore she derived the account from the official records of the Inquisition's offices. While the possibility exists that there were omissions, the record appears to give a balanced view of the events that transpired in the courtroom.

This is very well written book, that sheds some light on the Spanish Inquisition, and provides a different view than is often seen in books and movies. It is easy to read, very well noted, and you may very well finish it in only one or two sittings.

This book preserves an amazing part of my Grandfathers' and Great Uncles' (George and Albert Foucek) history. This book captures what they and their fellow comrades felt and did in a way that I could never put to words for my children.

High quality and durable. My husband spent a few years in Madrid once and he likes reminiscing about the areas he's been to. This was a Christmas present for a guy who had no Christmas list and I'm really glad I got it. Note: it only shows the main city center and no 'burbs, but for what it displays it is fabulous!

This great explorers series is very interesting and provides good information. Great for students and fans of history.

There are few literary experiences comparable to meet this brazilian author. This book is an excellent introduction to his abolitionist poems. The whole oeuvre of Castro Alves deserve attention, and in the wait of an extensive edition of its translated works, it could be illuminating to try the portuguese editions. Whitout forget the novelized biography of the poet by Jorge Amado, a classic on its own.

NICE TEXTBOOK SIZED BOOK. GREAT PICTURES AND DETAILS ABOUT LIFE AND CULTURE IN MAJORCA.

First published in 1980, Makbara demonstrates a radical use of linguistic and structural experimentation. Now that Goytisolo has loosened his ties to his mother country (since completing the Mendiola trilogy), his search for his "authentic self" is challenged by the indomitable formalizations of the spoken language. The pleasure of reading Makbara comes from a reading which does not depend on such linguistic verbal formalities, and deciding whether other forms of communication are possible. This novel is intricate and challenging on all levels in accord with Goytisolo's intent that his writing is not for everyone to read.

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This is a first-rate biography that is an excellent follow-on to Stroud's book about Napoleon's nephew, Charles-Lucien Bonaparte (The Emperor of Nature). Stroud has been a biographer of natural historians (another was of Thomas Say, the first American naturalist), but this sojourn into the American exile of Napoleon's older brother Joseph, an aristocrat and former king of Naples and Spain, proves a good fit for her.

One suspects Stroud was drawn to Joseph's story in part because he made his large estate in southern New Jersey into a vast private nature reserve, in which he enriched the natural stock by introducing species from his much-missed Europe, including hares and Osage orange trees. Stroud throws in amusing
anecdotes about encounters with wildlife: Charles-Lucien, newly arrived from Italy, once gleefully leaps off his horse to grab a beautiful black-and-white creature scurrying along the ground -- only to get sprayed by a skunk.

But Stroud doesn't dwell on the natural history but rather on the rich aristocratic life of Joseph in America, who built one of the country's finest art collections at the time. Stroud makes it clear that the degree to which Joseph influenced the advancement of high European culture in this country, which today reveals itself in great private and public art and library collections, magnificent gardens, and grand estates, was significant. His library, for one, had more volumes than the Library of Congress.

Joseph, a sensitive sophisticate who seems to be the polar opposite of his willful, deeply egotistical younger brother, comes across as a highly likable fellow who is at once an expatriate playboy and a partisan utterly committed to restoring a Bonaparte to the throne of France. His exile in America, which lasts 17 years, makes for a good story, and Stroud tells it with verve, intelligence, and an easygoing yet authoritative style that should appeal to both lay and scholarly readers. I particularly enjoyed her sense of humor: there's one scene of Joseph confronting Napoleon in the bathtub about the Louisiana Purchase that should not be missed.

This book is about a walk from south Portugal to Italy. As the writer is on a very modest budget he usually sleeps rough, but gets lots of hospitality on the way. This leads to all kinds of stories, mainly from old people and people who live a lonely life in the mountains.

He does not make his goal of Istanbul, but it is a very remarkable journy anyway, comparable to Patrick's Leigh Fermor's walk from Hook of Holland to Constantinople but without the luxury part in the latter book.

The book is very well written and keeps you reading mile after mile (page after page). I have quite a collection of walking stories, this was one of the first and I still rate it as one of the best.