A Brief History of Spain

A concise history of Spain—from early settlements, Roman rule, and the Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, to the revival of Spain in the 17th century, wars on the peninsula and revolutions in Spanish America, the catastrophic Civil War and Franco’s totalitarian regime, the Second World War, and beyond—to the present day. Covering major milestones, including the Christian Reconquista, Columbus’s voyages, the colonization of Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico, the rule of the Habsburgs and the centralization carried out by the Bourbons, while touching on themes such as the influence of the Great French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, the fall of the monarchy in the 1930s, and many other topics, Jeremy Black pays close attention to the distinctiveness of Spain’s regions, offers forecasts for the future, and also characterizes the vectors of Spain’s cultural development and its global influence in literature, visual arts, music, and other fields.