Spain Books

The dramatic literature of Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries exceeded that of all other European nations combined. Lope de Vega alone wrote over 1500 plays; Tirso de Molina and Luis Velez de Guevara produced about 400 plays each. The present work is a history of that feverish age of theatrical productivity. With thorough scholarship and unfailing readability, it chronicles the Golden Age of Spanish drama, from the earliest "autor de comedias," Lope de Rueda, to the decline of the Spanish drama in the latter half of the 17th century.
--- from book's back cover

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.

This is a a book full of color pictures and accompnaying text detailing the array of castles, in various styles that can be found on the Iberian landscape. The Moorish influences can be found in many of the old castles dating back to the conquest of Spain and the ensuing occupation(711-1492). If you think that if you've seen one castle, you've seen them all, well, nothing could be further from the truth. Included in this oversized book is a very detailed color map that shows the locations of the castles throughout Spain, in the various provinces.There are about thirty castles covered, each with text explaining the history of the castle and magnificent color photographs. The ingenious layouts and imaginative arrangements of the different fortifications is a beauty to behold. There is extensive coverage given to some of the most famous castles , like The Alcazar of Segovia, with it's beautiful ceilings and Mudejar lattice decoration that is spectacular. Naturally The Alhambra, with all of it's exquisite beauty, is examined with great detail. The various phases the castles have undergone, often from ruins to reconstruction is explained in a historical context, explaining how different noble families contributed. This is a fascinating look at the Medieval period and the fortresses that decorate the Iberian landscape that are reminders of Spain's storied past. This book is highly recommended for the student of history.

I found this book quite by luck, hoping the title would truly indicate its contents. I have been wanting to plan a trip of travel across the Mediterranean from port to port, and this book is a splendid start for such a venture. Also, it is sufficiently rigorous and detailed-- probably because the author is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.

This is a great book for kids to read! It has a lot of information about the great poet Maya Angelou. You learn a lot about all the great things she has done in her life and all her tradegies.

Memoire Sexuel: The Erotic Diary Of A French Girl In Spain is the extraordinary autobiographical story of Valerie's sexual experiences both in pursuit of love as a young woman then as the life as a prostitute. Her candid account reveals both the benefits and the detriments of emotional passion and commercial sex. This engaging and intensely personal story of unusual sexual adventure and compelling romantic pursuits embodies all the properties of temporary pleasure, inevitable disappointment, unexpected surprise, internal revelation, and poignant self-discovery. Superbly written and highly recommended for personal and academic library Human Sexuality reference collections, "Memoire Sexuel" is a unique memoir and especially recommended for the mature reader.

Este libro no es una historia, sino una cuenta de un proceso de la historia. La profesora Aguilar Fernández escribe aquí sobre el modo en que la mentalidad colectiva de una sociedad viene a ajustar a las complejidades de la memoria de una historia muy violenta y traumática. Posiblemente éste sea el libro más importante en toda la literatura de la historia contemporánea con relación a los procesos de la memoria y olvido social.

It is a pity that this book is available only in Spanish. Readers of other languages are missing the amazing story of a real legend...in her own words!

For my money, Sara Montiel has always been the quintessential movie star... Her mesmerizing beauty and charisma were made for the cameras...She is Garbo, Dietrich, West and Loren all rolled up into one-bigger-than-life film actress and singer... Whoever saw her on the screen has never forgotten her...

So much for her immense film appeal...In this book Miss Montiel bares her soul and takes us along into the unchartered territory that has been her life. Born extremelly poor in La Mancha, her desire for beauty, glamour and success seemed condemmed to remain "the impossible dream" forever... However, through discipline, determination, talent and a little luck, the young woman rises from her humble beginnings and becomes a successful working actress that went from Spanish & Mexican films into the mythical world of Hollywood, sharing top billing with the likes of Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Rod Steiger, Vincent Price, etc. Later she would make several films in Europe that turned her into an international sensation sealing her destiny as one of the most powerful film stars of all time... It was not easy...Montiel had to fight against all odds to reach that status and then to maintain herself on top of the heap for the past 40 years... The whole experience is told in her no-nonsense style and, of course, Montiel give us here a detailed account of all her husbands, lovers and platonic admirers...her triumphs and her failures...the world she lived and her remarkable capacity to rise in spite of everything... This book is simply delightful...

This book is not a history, but rather an account of a process of history. Professor Aguilar Fernández writes here about the way in which the collective mentality of a society comes to adjust to the complexities of the memory of a very violent and traumatic history. Possibly this might be the most imporatnt book in all of the literature of contemporary history in relation to the processes of memory and social forgetting.

i think the books written by Connie Mendez are really super