Spain Books

"Captain" Diego Alatriste is a sword-for-hire in seventeenth century Spain--a difficult occupation in a difficult time, a time of outward glory and inward corruption in a country dominated by an out-of-control theocratic machine--The Inquisition. Sure enough the old soldier Alatriste is soon involved in another dangerous adventure, but this one ends in disaster. His young ward, Inigo Balboa, thirteen years old, falls into the hands of the Inquisition, and finds himself interrogated, week after week, in a secret prison, somewhere in Toledo.

Of course, there's much more to the story. A murder mystery. Historical figures from the arts and literature of the time. Alatriste's friends and deadly enemies. A horrifying auto de fe. And the haunting theme of the title--purity of bloodlines, meaning freedom from any taint of the hated (even though converted) Jews.

So, what do you suppose will happen? Will Inigo be burned at the stake? Will Alatriste find any way to save him? Will the murder mystery ever be solved? You'll just have to read the book to find out. Let me just say that Inigo, who is also the narrator, is a remarkable lad indeed.

Author Perez-Reverte writes with profound depth and wisdom, giving his characters depth and complexity, and the action moves along, dragging the reader with it. Yes, the vocabulary is somewhat intimidating, with a number of archaic words I couldn't find in my Spanish dictionary, but usually I could figure out what was going on from the context. This is the second book in the Alatriste series and a fitting sequel to the previous title. I recommend this book highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

This book is riveting! It depicts XVII Century Spain with so much detail and imagination. Capitan Alatriste, an anti-hero sword-for-hire with a code of Honor so true of the Spaniards, is spectacular. And his friend, the Legendary Don Francisco Quevedo, one of Spain's greatest writers, collaborates with him through the story. The book is sprinkled with Quevedo's verses as well as those of Don Luis De Gongora. Inigo, the Captain's 13 year old protegee, relates the story, a la "Lazarillo de Tormes." Simply delicious!

Each book builds more suspense than the previous one read. "Limpieza de sangre" depicts milestone features about life in Spain in the first quarter of the 17th century. Without digressing too much into the social and political quagmires affecting the court of Phillip IV and his infamous, yet resourceful, prime minister Conde Duque de Olivares, Mr. Perez-Reverte's pen takes us to another nail-biting plot involving the Spanish Inquisition. His narrative is once again meticulously labored and his characters are produced quite graphically. His sense of detail is both powerful and realistic.

Cuando termié de leer esta libro descubrí que era el segundo de una serie. Sin perder tiempo busqué el primero (Las aventuras del Capitán Alatriste) y me lo devoré en cuestión de horas. Si bien es cierto que se puede leer sin haber leído el primero, es mucho más sabroso leerlo con la información entregada en la primera parte. Iñigo Balboa,un jovencito que llegará a ser escudero de Alatriste, será quien nos narre lo que pasa: con su óptica de niño que se hace hombre, de cómplice de un extraordinario soldado que no tiene pares con la espada, pero que por honor desafía a un hombre de poder, a inquisidores. Iñigo se verá en un fuerte aprieto del cual sólo Alatriste es capaz de salvarlo.

A punto de incorporarse a su antiguo tercio en Flandes, Diego Alatriste se ve envuelto por mediación de su amigo don Franscisco de Quevedo en otra peligrosa aventura. Una mujer ha aparecido estrangulada en una silla de manos frente a la iglesia de San Ginés, con una bolsa de dinero y una nota manuscrita: Para misas por su alma.

I read this book prior to going on a recent trip to Madrid. While not a tourist's guide specifically, I loved the mix of history, art, literature, and local color of Madrid. An excellent read before your trip and equally fascinating to re-read after your trip to Madrid.

The author's knowledge and understanding of Madrileno culture, history, literature, art and psyche are impressive. She brings all these elements together to form the big picture, and the result is a potrayal of Madrid that goes deep beyond the surface. A fascinating account.

Part way into a year in Madrid, I found this book in a bookshop near the Puerto del Sol. Having read -- mostly with disappointment -- guidebooks of the "eat here, sleep there" variety, as well as of the "observe famous site on the left" variety, I have been absolutely entranced with this book.

What it does is bring alive the stories of Madrid. It's not a guidebook, per se, although I think it would be an invaluable book to have on any visit to Spain. It's more a collection of stories, of anecdotes, that pull you into the actual life of the city as it is and as it was.

A typical example: almost all guidebooks mention the Cafe Gijon, and cite it as a good place to eat where generations of Madrid literati have dined. You are left wondering, which Madrid literati, what was the appeal, and what did they do there? Rather than leave you hanging so, Elizabeth Nash guides through the society of "tertullias" (informal but somewhat stable idle discussion groups) that once flourished in these cafes, quoting from some of the novels written about this literary life, pulling up diverse quotes and recollections. By the time you are done you even know the name and the politics of the man who sells cigarettes at the stand just inside the Cafe Gijon's door.

That's the sort of thing the book does throughout. Rather than just identify sites and give you a summary description, it takes you into tales of selected important areas of Madrid. Some are on everyone's tour itinerary, such as the Plaza Mayor and the Puerta del Sol, while others, such as the college residence hall where Dali, Bunuel and Garcia Lorca discovered each other, art and life, do not figure in the packaged tours.

While drawing on marvellously deep and diverse sources, it's also a very good read. It moves quickly.

I recommend it highly.

This is a well-written book about the history and culture of Madrid. I gained a better understanding of the culture of Madrid and how the Madrilenos live and think. For example, the lifestyle described centering around the cafes and the tertulias ("the gathering of people who meet regularly to converse or amuse themselves") enables you to visualize life in Madrid during the 1880's. The book is worth reading and instills a desire to learn about Spain's history and culture.

This little book is a delightful read: informative, well-written, and entertaining. I can't imagine a better book for anyone planning a trip to Spain.

This suspenseful tale has its origins in the murder of two elderly men on a Moorish tour of Morocco and Spain while in Cadiz. Denton Wright made a couple of billion dollars creating and then selling a dot.com company. He disappointed his murdered attorney father by not going to Harvard Law, and their relationship was at best strained. The other victim owned a California winery, supervised by his daughter.

Wright goes to California and meets with the daughter and they decide to learn about the murders. Along the way, Denton and his accompanying characters learn a lot about themselves and life in general. A well-constructed tale, it is fast-paced and well-written, and highly recommended.

It's a great, can't put it down read.

Billionaire Denton Wright's estranged father is murdered and Denton seeks answers- and more importantly- revenge. Denton is a fascinating character- sometimes a spoiled brat but always interesting.Denton's companions in the search are equally interesting. Mandy the sultry, exceptionally competent New York career woman, and Jenna, the leggy blonde vintner from California. And those are just the main characters-you'll enjoy the supporting cast as well.

The plot is, as they say, very fast paced, and Mr. Small's excellent description of the exotic locales(Spain and Morocco), notches the action up even more.

So put aside a few hours and enjoy, this book won't disappoint.

From the first page, the action explodes like a grenade. Small has an amazing ability to put you into the action. His descriptions are vivid. I found myself planning my escape from the thugs intent on cutting my throat as I turned the pages faster, and faster. Like his first story, "Alibi on Ice", "the Olive Horseshoe" has all the elements, mystery, sex, exotic locations, and great detail to make a great read.

A suspense -filled piece of work. The author's skill in making me turn the next page kept me up reading past midnight!! But it was worth the lack of sleep. The author's legal background made for reality too. G. Silver

To say that Ben Small matured as a writer from his first novel, "Alibi on Ice", is a massive understatement. His new book "The Olive Horseshoe" hits like a sledgehammer to the gut. From the first page to the last, the electric tension and explosive action never cease. Denton Wright may well become this age's new anti-hero. I want more.

This book was a very well written book. The colors used and the layout of the book are excellent. I really like how for each food, it describes where the recipe comes from (Spain, Columbia, Argentina, Peru). It is also nice to see how each contirbutor to the book shares something personal about herself. I know from having had these foods how tasty they are. Ms. Taylor did an excellent job putting this book together. I reccomend this book to everyone who enjoys cooking and to those who enjoy a little variation in their diet. Great job!

This cookbook is excellent. It features recipes of the Spanish -American culture,while also providing informative and entertaining information about the recipes. This cookbook not only focuses on delicious recipes, it also expounds on the history of four remarkable Spanish-American women who have remained friends throughout decades. These four women provide accounts of their friendship, as well as recipes for the many meals they have shared together. The recipes range from simple to semi-difficult. None are impossible, or take a ridiculous amount of time. The selection of recipes is excellent, and each chapter has its own table of contents, making that perfect recipe easy to find! I would recommend this book to anyone looking to liven up their recipe collection with some unique and delicious meals with some cultural history! This book is also very helpful if planning a dinner party. There are endless combinations of appetizers, salads, side dishes, vegetables, entrees, and desserts for all appetites.

Thumbing through the book you can practically smell the food cooking and you can absolutely feel the friendship these four women have forged over the years. That a daughter collected their creativity for all to share is a dash of spice. I and a friend prepared the first dish I tried for a dinner party with several friends. I'll be dipping into this book many times!

This book is a wonderful resource for an endless variety of tasty dishes! The recipes are easy to follow and prepare, and the stories are equally heartwarming. A great book for anyone who cooks because they love to. Salud!

Ms. Taylor hit the nail on the head with this one. This is a fantastic compilation of delicious mouth watering recipes, I can't believe Ms. Taylor put them in writing. I would have thought these recipes are "secrets". I'm no pro but I was able to make delicious food quite easily. My kitchen is smelling so good at this point, I look forward to coming home from work and enjoying it. A great cookbook!!

This is one of three books written by Aline Griffith Romanos about her adventures as a undercover spy during WW II in Spain. It is excellent! I first read the book 25 years ago, have read them all more than once, recommended all three books to many, and have heard only high praise for the series. They are fun, well written, and real page turners!

I have purchased 4 books by Aline Romanos. I absolutely love them. The fact that there is truth behind the story and that she really was an upper-class lady as well as a spy excites me. I find myself wishing I lived an adventurous life. She has a talent when it comes to recreating her life and exploits. I could not put it down!

Fascinating. My daughter is reading "The Spy Who Wore Red" and finds it fascinating as well.

I can only echo the words of the previous reviewers! Countess Aline's books (...Wore Red, ...Went Dancing - so far!) are compelling, and I was truly absorbed from beginning to end! When I finished the first, I couldn't wait to start the second - and now I'm impatient to get the third - "...Wore Silk" - from my sister! I had to keep reminding myself that she would NOT be killed, as she was alive to write these books! And her ability to manage the pertepual romantic current with no "smut" is impressive! Her description of "masculine hands," the brush of lips on her ear, or the mention of leg-to-leg contact during the tango says it all! But beyond that, she teaches so much about Spanish customs and culture, from the attraction of bull fighting to how on earth they manage the high combs and mantillas, to daily routine, meal times, siesta - she never stops. How can this remarkable strong female hero be of the same generation as my mother?

My mom first gave me this book to read back when I was in high school. I recently picked it up again at the library to take with me on vacation - and was once again drawn into this amazing - and real life - mystery. In fact, I enjoyed the book so much I almost didn't want to leave my hotel room until I finished it (which didn't make my brothers too happy)! Aline weaves mystery and international intrigue with a jet-setting lifestyle as she hob-nobs with the likes of Liz Taylor and Audrey Hepburn while trying to solve a mystery that's haunted her for 20 years! I'm just starting her next book, "The Spy Wore Silk" and reccommend that anyone who loves a good mystery (and don't we all?) should check out Aline's books. They're absolutely addictive, and, in this case, that's a good thing.

I was a little skeptical buying yet another Spanish usage book. I already have an entire bookcase full of Spanish material. But when it arrived, I realized that it was amazingly well put together and a really valuable tool. My favorite section is the one where they break down all of the applications of various verbs and show the wide manner of meanings possible and common verb combinations used. There is also a really great section with Nouns that gives the subtle distinctions between noun variations (i.e., just a chaqueta vs. all the various types of coats). I can't wait to really dig into this thing. Well laid out, easy to read and to grasp. Really a wonderful reference.

I have found the book an excellent help and enjoy using it - one of the best. Now and then there are still more interpretation or applications of a word lacking - but it is very comprehensive and thoroughly compiled.

This book was an amazing tool in my study of Spanish. It is not a traditional grammar, but it is still amazingly quick, succint, and too-the-point. It is technical book, in the sense that it doesn't waste time or space with those corny dialogues and phrases that seem to abound in beginner books. Instead, this book fills a critical gap: what you need to know about the structure and syntax of the language in order to go from low-intermediate speaker to advanced fluency. Most intermediate-advanced books resemble "readers", this book is the opposite. There is a wealth of information on false cognates, "registers" (ways of speaking according to the situation), and - my favorite - the right prepositions to use after nouns and verbs, a constant source of errors for non-native speakers who have trouble grasping how "pensar en" means "to think about". This book was just what I needed to move from intermediate foreign Spanish speaker to a fluent speaker. It is especially accessible and meaningful for language learners who - like me - actually find "grammar" to be one of the exciting and valuable parts of language learning.

Having English as my first language I have appreciated the virtues of this book for a number of years. It is well organized with clear explanations and many examples. One of the features I value highly is the classification of words and expressions by their "register", meaning the social context in which the usage occurs. Anything from obscene to formal and legalistic. You will need a year or two of Spanish before the book can be useful.

Excellent book for serious students of Spanish and treats the language at some depth. Includes usages from both Spain and Latin America in various registers. Words and and phrases appropriate for informal and more formal usage. Quibble in that the book has come apart with fairly light and careful use.

Along with Laurie Lee's other prose, among the most lyrical and magical travel memoirs, with characters drawn beautifully and moods captured poetically. He grew up in Slad, a village next to Stroud, a small market town in the Cotswolds. My mother was born just a couple of years later in Stroud, and grew up in the same environment he did. I was born nearby, and spent parts of my childhood in the 1950s and 1960s there, and it is indeed magical. Leaving Stroud was a bold step for him, as my mother could describe to me as she left Stroud when WWII started, having been due to start at a Music Conservatoire in London in September 1939. Since the War had just started, my mother at 19 went to London anyway to work for the RAF in the days, and as an air raid warden and ambulance driver in the Blitz, at night. She told me stories about Laurie Lee who became a favored son of the town, though his writing speaks for itself.
His prose, like so many of the great memoirists and travel writers is indeed poetic. As a man who was an auto-didact, he had an affinity for simplicity, but grace and elegance few others have mastered.

"As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning" [1], author Laurie Lee recounted his first sojourn away from home. At age 19, our narrator-biographer, walked out of his village at Stroud, Gloucestershire, and headed toward London. As Lee himself recalled, he was 'still soft at the edges' when he said farewell to his mother (a poignant scene in the opening chapter). All he had with him that Sunday morning in June 1934 was 'a small rolled-up tent, a violin in a blanket, a change of clothes, a tin of treacle biscuits, and some cheese.'

After nearly a year of living and working in London as a cement laborer, Lee decided it was time to move on. He bought a one-way ticket and sailed to Spain. He settled for Spain because he had had an introduction to Spanish. All he could speak then, Lee admitted, was only one Spanish phrase: 'Will you please give me a glass of water?'

In July 1935, Laurie Lee landed in northwestern Spain. For many months he roamed the exotic and history-filled landscape, living off his music and the kindness of the people he came to love. From Vigo, he wandered southward through the New Castile region (Segovia, Madrid, Toledo). By December, he came to the coastal region of Andalusia (Cordova, Seville, Granada). There, Lee holed up at a Castillo hotel until the outbreak of the civil war in July 1936.

This author's second autobiographical sketch could have been subtitled "From Spain With Love." His inimitable poetic description of the Spanish landscape and its inhabitants is sensual as it is lyrical. The warmth and beauty of this passage [no pun], for example, undulates this reviewer's reveries, not of memories but of what has never been: 'When twilight came I slept where I was, on the shore or some rock-strewn headland, and woke to the copper glow of the rising sun coming slowly across the sea. Mornings were pure resurrection, which I could watch sitting up, still wrapped like a corpse in my blanket, seeing the blood-warm light soak back into the Sierras, slowing re-animating their ash-grey cheeks, and feeling the cold of the ground drain away beneath me as the sunrise reached my body.'

Lee's "As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning" and its third autobiograhy "A Moment In War" have had a farther reach than any of his other celebrated works. These writings have been adapted to music to which Charles Baudelaire could only spoke of metaphorically. In June of 2002, the Allegri String Quartet in The Salisbury Festival (UK) premiered "A Walk Into War." A musical piece which the quartet had commissioned based on the two latter biographies.

The author once wrote that autobiography is 'a celebration of life and an attempt to hoard its sensations...trophies snatched from the dark... to praise the life I'd had and so preserve it, and to live again both the good and the bad'. By all measures he had not done badly. He was and is the one modern author whose memoirs have transcended into the realms of music and visual arts ('Cider With Rosie', a 1998 film by John Mortimer).

1] Laurie Lee's autobiographical trilogy - Book 1:"Cider with Rosie" (1959); Book 2:"As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning" (1969); and Book 3: "A Moment of War" (1991).

It's a shame that this fine book is not in print. Those going after used editions--and you should--are encouraged to look for the 1985 reprint stunningly illustrated with classic paintings of Spanish life. But back to why you want to read this: in 1934, a young, naive Englishman who had never been out of his rural neighborhood packed up his violin and went walking, first to London, a hundred miles east and then via boat to Spain where he walked from Vigo in the north down to the southern coast. I'm having trouble shelving the book: is it a straight memoir? Certainly it is very much about the writer's encounter with the world at a historically significant time and about his own growth process. Or is it a travelogue? It is a very accurate account of the unique Spanish culture and countryside. Although written more than 30 years after the actual experience, Lee's account conveys a fresh sense of wonder and discovery and resists overlaying too much foreshadowing and hindsight. His style is lyrical, vivid as the blue Spanish sky and honest. He is refreshingly free of nationalism and prejudice.

Laurie Lee's writing is beautiful, simple and elegant: down-to-earth but poetic. I first read this book when I was 14. Twelve years later, it's still in my all-time top three. It is incredibly evocative of Spain before the Civil War - it describes a place and a moment in history seen through the excited eyes of a youth. It is nostalgic but not unrealistic. Read it. You won't regret it!

His admirers have commented, variously, that Laurie Lee 'writes like an angel', a 'poet, whose prose is quick and bright as a snake'. For another writer such praise might seem lavish but not for Laurie Lee. He writes beautifully, producing books that electrify and enchant, exhilarate and mesmerise. 'As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning' is the second volume of a marvellous trilogy. Part autobiography, part evocation of all the bewilderment and uncertainty of the 1930's, it is characterized by the lyricism of its poet author. Leaving his home in the Cotswolds, the young Lee walks to London in 'high, sulky Summer' with high hopes of making his fortune. He settles, happily enough, in a London boarding house with an engagingly eccentric Irish Cockney family, and supports himself by labouring on a building site and by playing the violin. In a life of opposites, we are treated to a first-hand account of the ugliness and tension of the disputes between employees and unions. In the dawn of the first, disquieting signs of dissatisfaction - a feeling in the 30's that led inexorably to the policy of Appeasement, and thus to war - we see through the eyes of a naive adolescent. It is this naivete, coupled with the glorious spontaneity that floods this book, which leads him to Spain. Knowing approximately one Spanish phrase, Lee decides to see Spain and so begins the love affair wtih a country that was to obsess him for the rest of his life. Never has Spain been so vividly painted. From the scorching heat and vivid, voluptous women of Vigo, to the false glamour and dilapidation of Madrid, Laurie Lee writes with a passion to match his captivation. An absolutely unforgettable book with a host of sharply drawn characters. From the sexily confident child, Patsy, to beautiful Cleo, Philip with his 'fine hungry face and a shock of thick obsidian curls' Lee sketches the myriad individuals he meets with a lucidity that stamps them in our minds forever. Who can read this novel and not dream wistfully of the days when cars were a rarity in our country. Or of a Spain unscarred by war, where the laundered, lacy dolls modestly avert their eyes from the gaze of the young men 'pocket dandies, carefully buttoned in spite of the heat.' Truly a book to treasure forever.

The pictures are stunning and cover a range of designs. What surprised me was how much I enjoyed reading about a woman who collected the textile art of Balenciaga and the history of Neiman Marcus. The author included pictures of Balenciaga creations being worn by their owner. Somehow that added a special touch and made this more than a collection of photographs of elegant clothing. I look forward to enjoying this book for many years.

My company produced the mannequins used to exhibit the couture in this fine text, so for me it was a delight, that bias aside, the forward by Givenchy is worth the cover price alone. The text my Myra Walker is insightful and the book is beautifully ilustrated. Seeing Balenciaga's illustrations along side his creations is a joy for any true fashionista. The book is a homage to Balenciaga's work, but not Balenciaga, who was a private and complicated gentleman, and who would like to remembered that way, for his work, not for himself.

M. Balenciaga was a master couturier so lacking today as one considers haute couture, especially, as the French houses of haute couture are virtually gone. At the time of M. Balenciaga's impact from the 1930s through 1968 when he closed his Parisian house, there were many more houses of haute couture. He, like Chanel, Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain, Mainbocher, Jacques Fath, Schiaparelli, Vionnet, and Gres to name a few, flourished as women from around the globe turned to the tradition and process of the haute couture as the pinnacle of what it meant to being well-dressed. Out of this number, the creations of M. Balenciaga stand-out. There is that certain something about his work which commands and rivets the attention. Yes, unquestionably elegant, imbued with masterful design, quality, and exacting a nobility for the wearer which she may or may not have actually possessed, but still whenever I view his creations I think to myself "more". Unlike today where being anonymous seems to be the rule of what passes for style, M. Balenciaga assured a woman would never be forgotten. This volume pays homage to that certain something and begs the question "where are the contemporary talents?" At the moment, in Paris there are only in my view, Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel and Valentino. These individuals know how to dress their haute couture clients (especially, those not wishing to dress perennially 18 years old) whereas the remaining haute couture houses present nothing but a media circus, for too long lead by that dreadful costumier posing as a couturier at Christian Dior. For the sheer pleasure of pondering something beautiful, I recommend this volume as well as Balenciaga by Marie-Andrée Jouve and Jacqueline Demornex published in 1991.

gorgeous pics of gorgeous clothes. this guy is my fav. when it comes to couture and this book won't disappoint. well worth the money. yeah, Dior is great too but this guy really is the 'master'

This is a fabulous book! I love the images and history. I would recommend it to anyone who has an appreciation for fashion history and photography.

I ordered the book as a present for my wife, an anthropologist and artist. But, when it arrived, I couldn't help but sit down and read it immediately. Beautifully done photos of the cave images, together with a series of excellent essays on the history, layout, content, and "meaning" of the cave. A lovely production, an excellent book.

This beautiful book explores the cave of Altamira in Spain, called "The Sistine Chapel of Quaternary Art" for the splendour of its drawings, engravings and paintings. The cave was first occupied 18 450 years ago and its early history ended about 13 000 years ago when the entrance vault collapsed. It was discovered again in 1879.

The text comprises an introduction by Antonio Beltrán and various articles: The Cave And Surroundings by José Lasheras Corruchaga; Altamira: Art, Artists And Times by Federico de Quirós; Techniques Individual Artists And Artistic Concepts by Matilde Pérez-Seoane; Photographing Altamira by Pedro Ramos; Conservation Problems by Corruchaga and a Conclusion: The Future by Beltrán.

This great monument to prehistoric art is documented by impressive color and black and white photographs of the area, the artworks and the tools found in the caves, including a portrait of the discoverer Sautuola. There are maps of the cave, a bibliography, notes and an index.

This magnificent book offers an exhaustive study of the wonderful and mysterious cave complex of Altamira and also deals with a number of theories about cave art around the world that casts some light on our ancient ancestors.

THE CAVE OF ALTAMIRA, edited by Antonio Beltran, tells the story of the famous paintings found in a cave in Spain in 1879. The book indicates the Altamira paintings date from the Solutrean period of the Paleolithic. Recent radiocarbon dating shows art in the Polychrome Chamber to be between 18,000 and 19,000 years old, placing it around 16,500 B.C. Pedro Saura Ramos, the photographer has a distinguished reputation. A number of prominent art historians have contributed interesting essays.

From the high elevation of the Altamira cave, one can see the `Picos de Europa' - a range of mountain peaks which must have appeared awesome to Paleolithic humans. Judging by the remains of creatures found in pits in the cave chambers as well as portraits of animals on cave walls, the countryside around Altamira must have been a virtual Eden. Evidence shows that great park-like settings near the cave held deer, roebuck, and wild boar, while open areas favored large bovines like horses and bison, rocky areas provided shelter for goats and chamois, and the nearby sea and fresh water lakes and streams were filled with shellfish and other marine life. Charcoal used in the wall paintings and found around the hearths reveal a coastal ecology where willow, juniper, chestnut and pine grew. The discarded bones indicate the cave was probably used as a gathering place for a relatively large number of people.

Pedro Sauro Ramos says it is impossible to convey the impression one receives standing on the cave floor looking up at the wall and it's illustrations. His photos are unusual in that he has held the camera in non-conventional ways and shot angles not normally seen in print. He provides wide-angled, then close-up shots of many of the animals so the reader can see detail revealed at close range. He notes that artists often took advantage surface features when creating an animal. Natural bosses were used to round out forms. A ledge provided the line of a deer jaw. Cracks and crevices highlighted horns and hinds.

As is the case with Lascaux, many of the paintings have been damaged by exposure to human bacteria and some of the photographs reveal black fungus. In addition, ceilings and walls have been reinforced to support badly damaged sections of the cave. In some cases the human supports interfere with the lighting or alter the appearance. For example, natural lighting from the cave entrance that once illuminated the numerous bovines of the famous "Great Panel" and that would have been seen on entering the chamber have been blocked by a concrete wall. For his photographs, Saura Ramos provided natural lighting to show how the painting would have appeared to Paleolithic humans.

The text includes reasonably good essays by a number of noted experts. My favorite is entitled, "Techniques, Individual Artists, and Artistic Concepts in the Painting of Altamira", by Matilda Muzquiz Perez-Seoane. In this essay, Perez-Seoane explains how bone marrow was used to illuminate the areas of the wall the artist painted in the dark interior recesses. Apparently, animal knee caps were filled with marrow which was lighted and provided a flame which illuminated without filling the chamber with smoke and choking the artist and/or blackening the ceiling or walls.

Prior to Darwin, there was relatively little interest in prehistoric art. Then the theory of evolution and the discovery of many wonderful caves jammed with art, almost like museums, conspired to change all of that. Altamira's art dates back around 15,500 years (due to radioactive dating techniques), but it originally drew little attention because it was too wonderful to be real. The psychology of disbelief stall led all but a few scholars to dismiss this gem. It took almost 20 years for its authenticity to be established, and subsequent evidence has only strengthened its claims. Many people feel that Altamira is the most wonderful collection of prehistoric art in existence. The other famous cave is Lescaux in France. In between these caves geographically, many other caves with drawings have been found.

After being initially ignored after its discovery in 1879, it soon experienced a crush of visitors (eventually approaching 200,000 in a single year). But cave art isn't going to last with that much extra heat and humidity, so the caves have now been closed except to the occasional scholar. The good news is that this cave (located near the seacoast in Spain) is being reproduced so that one can visit and get a sense of the place without harming the art.

Altamira is an extensive series of caves (about 270 yards long) with many different sections. The entrances and exits have mysterious masks. In one section with a low-hung ceiling are many wonderful large paintings of bison (many of these you will recognize). Another area features engravings in the soft stone that are remarkable in their detail and delicacy. Yet other areas have different features. The photographs are magnificent and capture both the beauty of the individual images as well as giving a sense of the part of the cave they are in.

The essays in the book are remarkably complete. They describe the history of the cave, the evolution of theories about what the art means, descriptions of how the art was probably created, and the difficulties of preserving and recording the cave's contents. The only drawback was that the discussions of the theories were somewhat redundant, and would have benefited from a stronger editorial hand or more preplanning.

Anyone who loves art, is interested in prehistoric life, or is fascinated by cave art would love this book. Anyone who loves a good mystery will, too.

Open your mind to the possibilities that exist, and use this book as an excellent example of how often we underestimate the potential of what is in front of us.

Closure of a number of palaeolithic cave art sites has produced a wave of books depicting the art by photography. These efforts are of varying quality, but this one on Altamira is one of the more noteworthy examples. In addition to the photographs, Saura Ramos has enlisted several cave art scholars to add informative essays on history of the discovery, descriptions of the cave and the paintings and the problems of conservation and protection. Particularly useful is an article on the methods used to produce the cave graphics. The reader is nearly alongside the artist as the charcoal or ochre stick applied to render the image. It's an effective means of "personalising" the renderings.

Spanish scholars on various topics author all the essays comprising the body of the text. From a beginning of the history of the discovery of the Altamira graphics, the cave's local environment is examined. A diagram of the cave is shown, although lacking any measurement scale. The art and artists in the time of the paintings' creation is given with an explanation of the timescale involved. The images and artefacts were approximately dated in the era preceding radiometric dating methods employed today. Forms and styles of the work are set in the general scope of "Ages" then in use by scholars. The painters spread their work throughout the cave system where space and useful rock forms were available. A very useful addition, often overlooked in accounts of other cave or rock art, is the size of the image. This is handy to have and useful to keep in mind as you view the image reproductions. There is also a discussion of paintings versus engravings that appear at Altamira.

Of major importance, and almost unique in cave art books, is the discussion of the artistic concepts and painting styles used to make the images. Some very precise analytical techniques have been applied to these paintings during the last generation. The layers of strokes, the application of colours and the forms of natural rock formations that underlie many of the images have been closely scrutinised. The author of this essay, Matilde Muzquiz Perez-Seoane has compiled a detailed set of examples of the rendering process. Given the conditions that prevailed in the time of the painters, their powers of observation and application were exceptional. It's not for nothing that Picasso declared "We've learned nothing in thousands of years".

It is the photographs, of course, that render this book valuable and captivating. Saura A Ramon's work is exquisite in portraying how the paintings would be seen were you to visit the site. His professional use of light and shadow, although unable to duplicate the wavering illumination provided by oil lamps and torches, still depicts the scenes as closely as the artists might have seen them. Bulging rock transformed into bison or other animals nearly jump out at the reader's view. Cracks formed backbones, heads and other anatomy, giving the images a sense of life. Only a film using equally effective techniques could offer improvement over the images in this book. It's a superb effort in giving us a sense of what the artists and the people originally viewing these paintings might have felt. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

As an artist and print maker I can admire Goya's mastery of the media.This book allows people who may not be familiar with Goya's etchings a sense of how powerful and timely these prints are even after 200 years. I was fortunate to see the complete series of these etchings last summer at Syracuse University.I'm sure Goya would see the brutality of war that America is currently engaged in.

Consistently all things published by Dover are of the highest and most comprehensive quality technically and academically, and yet at a very low and democratic price, as if they actually wish to place high culture into the hands of the common man and the poorest person, rather than charging top dollar for instantly disposable art and airport lounge short-lived literature. Dover rather presents for our constant use high quality and durable books: Our Daily Book.

And thus this book which we need to see and weep every night as we grow dull with constant war and violence. We see here why war must wage nevermore, in this brave new era of total and indiscriminate and disproportionate yet profitable colonialist warfare.

When allowed by our media we may now see the same or similar images to these which Goya so accurately depicts, both realistically and fantastically. Goya, so well known as a painter of the Spanish courts, but also of Saturn consuming his children, here shows us grotesquely and coldly the true meaning of war, the true fruits of warfare, the moral and the spiritual causes and effects of war: the disasters of war.

As I pride myself as bilingual and am certified superlatively fluent in Spanish with some English besides, as well as a few other tongues, I found occasion here to wince at Dover's translations of Goya's carefully scripted captions, or to shout aloud more probable interpretations, yet I find this the only possible objection to this excellent and gratefully received volume, which must be on the table of every American home, lacking as we are the graphics from Fallujah or Gaza. Read this book and pray for peace. Read this book and study war no more. Read this book with Mark Twain's War Prayer, and turn aside from the ever more rugged war path surging with the blood of innocents.

Even more than Barefoot Gen, more than the immortal Guernica, more even than Speigelman's Maus series, this realistic, classical and careful draftsmanship of the great Goya brings home to us across the centuries the true horrors and disasters of war, with poignant captions. Please read this book in this excellent, scholarly and complete presentation by Dover Editions, now at an even lower price here upon the amazon. Here must we see that the victims of our violence are human beings, our brothers and sisters, children and elders, and not some dehumanized uncounted collateral statistic alienated into separate labels of faith or of nation. We strike our own family in these disasters of war. This is a powerful book which must be seen today, and most gratefully Dover offers it still upon this amazon.

The Disasters of war is a difficult book to read, containing the most impressing pictures of war and its consequences. The black/white drawings are as real as life itself, and sometimes even more!

Goya depicts tortures made on public squares, people starving to death, and warriors fighting. But the most amazing is the vividness and actuality of the pictures. The Disasters of war is like a poetry book, it has no time, and no defined significance; it can be interpreted in infinite different ways and it is always an up-to-date work.

In my view, one of the best ways to fight war is using art. War leads on to war, art leads on to art. Understanding what and how war happens is essential in order to fight it (I excluded Why since I believe there is no explanation for it). This book shows the What perfectly. I have written a review of the book 'Why?' by Nikolai Popov which is about the How.

Like most dover press books, we have here a wonderful bargain: clear reproductions and good paper stock. Goya was a court painter trying to please his patrons, but in this series of etchings, he indulged his twisted soul in the first recorded anti war propaganda. These etchings are both lovely in their technique and horrifying in their imagery.

When I look at these prints, I am reminded of: the "contractors" whose dismembered bodies were hung from the bridge in Fallujah; the lynching postcards that were commonly mailed around the USA only a few generations ago to celebrate the murder of black men; Auschwitz; All Quiet on the Western Front; Sherman's March; the Trojan War; you get the idea. Unfortunately these powerful images are and shall remain contemporary. There is some topical political comment here, but you're mostly looking at the human condition, and with a few changes of costume and props, these prints are applicable to almost any conflict, anywhere. Good for the kids' room.