Spain Books

This book is a great way to introduce Modern Latin America. The authors provide a wealth of information and present it all in an engaging narrative style. The text is ideal for college courses on Latin America or for anyone who wants to understand the Latin American and Caribbean countries with whom the U.S. shares a hemisphere.

If you are an American, your touchstone of European history is always England. For much of the world, Spain is the "old country". This book made me see Spain in the way I see England. I now have a better feel for the land and its people. A good popular history.

This is the definitive work on the Spanish Inquisition. Any serious research on the subject should begin here. Lea writes in that wonderful late 19th century style, so the volumes are not only filled with valuable information they are not overly tedious to read.

Sir Charles Oman's comprehensive seven volume history of the Peninsular War is the yardstick by which any other history of this theatre must be measured. It is exhaustive in detail and in breadth of coverage. If it happened, it is in one of these volumes. Napoleon may have considered Spain a side show, but as results turned out it was a bleeding ulcer. French losses here, combined with the 1812 campaign, placed a strain on the Empire which could not be overcome by even the best generalship. Any true student of the Napoleonic Wars should find these books and read them. They are essential to a complete understanding of the conflict.

Sir Charles Oman's comprehensive seven volume history of the Peninsular War is the yardstick by which any other history of this theatre must be measured. It is exhaustive in detail and in breadth of coverage. If it happened, it is in one of these volumes. Napoleon may have considered Spain a side show, but as results turned out it was a bleeding ulcer. French losses here, combined with the 1812 campaign, placed a strain on the Empire which could not be overcome by even the best generalship. Any true student of the Napoleonic Wars should find these books and read them. They are essential to a complete understanding of the conflict.

Prescott's 19th century book is a highly readable, enjoyable account of 16th century Spain. Philip II is not the primary focus of the book, but the events that took place in and around Spain during his rule. I especially appreciate the detailed history that this book provides on the Morisco rebellion in and around Las Alpujarras (near Granada) following Philip's 1567 decree forbidding much of Morisco culture. Some of the linguistic quips are a little dated, but the pre-P.C. writing (such as referring to the Inquisition's "maw") is often entertaining.

In the U.S., we often hear about Columbus sailing in 1492. If we visit Andalucia, we might read about the 1492 defeat of the Nasrids buy Fernando and Isabel the Catholics, but the 16th century really comes alive in Prescott's work in a manner that is eerily reminiscent of certain conflicts in our own time.

Although this book has never appeared in the promised paperback edition and remains at a ridiculously high price, this does not detract in any way from the wonderful content. Pountain guides us easily and clearly through his chosen text extracts, concentrating on phonological, morphological and syntactic features. The book is methodically organised and is excellent for quick references. Particularly useful is the section on Keypoints at the end of the book which enables the student to sharpen their knowledge of the development and change of Spanish, including such features as lenition and the Old Castilian sibilant system.
As a student of Spanish linguistics I would recommend this book to anyone either studying the subject or with a genuine interest in Spanish from a descriptive and/or historical perspective.

...
Hitler and Spain is a very good book and is also very well researched. After reading it, I learned about many events and key people in the Spanish Civil War that I was not aware of prior to reading Hitler and Spain. Also, the footnotes at the end of the book are very well documented and are worth taking a look at. Dr. Whealey, if you are reading this in Athens Ohio, my hat is off to you for writing such a wonderful book. I am very excited about your new book on the American intervention in kosovo coming out this year.

Author: Proctor, Raymond L.
Title: Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Spanish Civil War / Raymond L. Proctor.
Publisher: Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1983.
Edition Date: 1983
Language: English
Notes: Includes index.
Physical Details: x, 289 p. : maps ; 24 cm.
Series: Contributions in military history, ISSN 0084-9251 ; no. 35
Subjects: Spain.--Ejército Nacional.--Legión Cóndor.
Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Participation, German.
Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Aerial operations.
Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Regimental histories.
ISBN: 0-313-22246-0 (lib. bdg.)

In "homegrown: engaged cultural criticism", black feminist intellectual bell hooks and Chicana visual artist Amalia Mesa-Bains challenge the mainstream media's attempt to polarize African-Americans and Latina/os. Exploring commonalities and differences, they insist on a radical women of color politic to confront male, white, heterosexual, ruling-class hegemony. In this short but informative text, these two brilliant thinkers discuss a broad range of social issues like immigration, Hurricane Katrina, multicultural education, the war, and interlocking systems of oppression like racism, sexism, and classism. They also discuss their childhood histories, family relationships, spiritualities, and views on art and culture as a means of contextualizing their oppositional politics. Read this insightful book, then begin the crucial work of building a truly meaningful multicultural feminism.