Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Fine Arts    4. Individual Artist    5. Spanish: Adult Nonfiction    6. Catalogues raisonnes    7. History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -    8. Painting & paintings   

Subjects:  1. Christianity - General    2. Foreign Language Study - General    3. General    4. History - General History    5. Juvenile Nonfiction    6. Spanish: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)   

Editorial Review

"I wonder what is the appropriate first action when you come from a country at war and set foot on peaceful soil. Mine was to rush to the tobacco-kiosk and buy as many cigars and cigarettes as I could stuff into my pockets." Most war correspondents observe wars and then tell stories about the battles, the soldiers and the civilians. George Orwell--novelist, journalist, sometime socialist--actually traded his press pass for a uniform and fought against Franco's Fascists in the Spanish Civil War during 1936 and 1937. He put his politics and his formidable conscience to the toughest tests during those days in the trenches in the Catalan section of Spain. Then, after nearly getting killed, he went back to England and wrote a gripping account of his experiences, as well as a complex analysis of the political machinations that led to the defeat of the socialist Republicans and the victory of the Fascists. ... Read more

Reviews (82)

War: ugly, torpid
This work lacks human interest. This is war coverage, a journalist's tale on the front lines - but does not make for literature of depth and humanity.

Free Mind
George Orwell (Eric Blair) shows how someone can be an idealist but, at the same time, is able to keep all his observation and reasoning capacity.
Insightful
I say insightful because I, of course, had read 1984 and Animal Farm in high school. I knew about Orwell's participation in the Spanish Civil War with the POUM/"Trotskyite" sympathzing Independent Labour Party and that it influenced his work in both of the aforementioned works. But hearing it from Orwell's own words, his description of the Barcelona May Days and the reaction to it in the international press, of the Communist Party led suppression of the POUM in Catalonia, etc... All made the book very insightful. If you've read 1984 and/or Animal Farm, this is a must read to completely understand those books. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1931-1939    2. 1936-1939    3. Civil War    4. Civil War, 1936-1939    5. Europe - Spain & Portugal    6. History    7. History: World    8. Literature - Classics / Criticism    9. Personal narratives    10. Politics and government    11. Spain    12. Catalonia    13. History / Spain & Portugal    14. Journeys    15. Orwell, George   

Reviews (22)

A great introduction to Spain
While visiting Spain with my wife we bought this book in Seville. I enjoyed every part of it especially the end of each chapter which holds a list of the monuments relevant to the history of that chapter. I took it on a trip to Spain with my wife and it made the trip magical.
Trust the negative reviews and save your time
Is there substance?Yes, not a lot, but there is a brief overview of history here.
Hollywood Movie
No wonder this book has not been translated into Spanish. It would be an absolute fiasco. "The Story of Spain" was so obviously designed to be a good seller among American tourists, that it would make an excellent Hollywood movie -such is the distortion of history!
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Spain & Portugal    2. History    3. History: World    4. Spain   

Reviews (17)

Genuinely worthy of five stars
I have had this book on my shelf for quite a while, and finally got around to reading it after watching a documentary on Columbus on the Discivery Channel. I got inspired to overcome my intellectual laziness, and how pleased I am I did! This book really deserves its reputation as a timeless classic, and the author, a giant of maritime history, did such a fine job that I now want to read his well known biography of John Paul Jones. The text is gripping and the author's insights abound. This is a fine book.

A colorful narrative, rich in detail.
This book is the definitive work on Columbus.Morison is famous for making the same journey that Columbus made with largely the same equipment in order to prepare for writing this book.His experience shines through in the detail thatMorison lavishes on his subject.
Misleading entities...
While Morison does admit to the genocide of the Indians lead by Columbus and his henchmen, it idolizes him for the duration of the book. A brief admittance of guilt, for Morison, is a surefire way of allowing a much more bias, idealistic portrayal of a man with "questionable" character traits. Bartolome De Las Casas, a European minister who lived in the same time as Colombus, gives a much more realistcally bleek look at the Spanish invasion of the Americas. Because Morison's focus shifts so rapidly from the bad to the good, it loses major points for realism. The book reads more like a 3rd grade textbook; Morison would have us believe Santa Claus and the toothfairy exists along side a saintly Christopher Columbus. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. America    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Columbus, Christopher    7. Expeditions & Discoveries    8. Explorers    9. Historical - General    10. Spain    11. Biography: historical    12. Geographical discovery & exploration    13. History / General    14. North America    15. South America    16. World history: c 1750 to c 1900    17. c 1500 to c 1600   

Editorial Review

María Rosa Menocal's wafting, ineffably sad Read more

Reviews (51)

A Forgotten Chapter in European History
Maria Rosa Menocal's ORNAMENT OF THE WORLD is a lively and highly readable account of Al-Andalus, the Spain created by Muslims. It was a world which sparkled with brilliant achievements in poetry and literature, architecture, and technology-- for instance it invented the astrolabe, one of the first instruments facilitating successful navigation. It alone kept Greek learning alive when the rest of Europe was still ignorant of the major Greek classics. Most importantly, it was an oasis of tolerance, for its Muslim leaders considered the adherents of all three Abrahamic religions to be dhimmi, or People of the Book.It was founded in 711 when Abd al Rahman, successor of the Umayyad dynasty driven from Damascus by the victorious Abbasid dynasty, established a new caliphate in Cordoba, Spain.For centuries the empire it unified on the Iberian peninsula produced great writers and scholars of all three religions.Perhaps the best known Muslim product of this culture is Ibn Hazm, author of the Ring of the Dove, a treatise on love.But it was also a golden age of Jewish learning, and an age in which Jews could rise to the highest positions in government as well-- for instance Hasdai ibn Shaprut, or Son of Isaac, grand vizier and general of Abd Al Rahman III.By the 11th Century the unified kingdom of Cordoba had broken apart into a number of competing taifa or city-states, which retained some measure of the glory of Cordoba.It was in this atmosphere that Rodrigo Diaz, known as El Cid from the Arabic Al Sayyid ("lord" or "chief"), a Christian warrior, became a general fighting for one Muslim ruler against another with armies which contained large contingents of Christians.The first groups to try to stamp out this cultural tolerance were Muslims, puritanical and uncultivated Berbers known as Almovarids or Almohads.But the real death knell came in 1492, when Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the last Muslim taifa of Granada, site of the famous Alhambra, and established a form of persecution even worse than religious bigotry, with the most ominous implications for the future of Western civilization.But that dismal turn of events is the subject for another book review.

Rosa's rose-colored glasses
Elegantly written and copiously researched but when considered against a slew of other popular works, Professor Menocal's tome is an overly exuberent romanticization of Islamic Spain (al-Andalus). al-Andalus had its epoch of extraordinary brilliance, most notably in the rise of the Cordoba Caliphate but this shining moment quickly dissipated by the early century 11th century. Its demise heralded a 400 year descent into civil war, chaos and the arrival of Islamist fundamentalism in the guise of the Almohads and Almoravids, spiritual predecessors of Salafists/Wahabis and al Qaeda. So severe and intolerant was their programme that they scattered not only Jews and Christians but drove away many Muslims not meeting "muster". The book would be a benign literary excess were the subject not so topical. Islamists the world over yearn for, among other things, a victorious return to al-Andalus. Waxing poetic about a perfection that never was only feeds the fantasies of radicals and disarms those well-meaning readers in the West most likely to lose out. For a better balanced, equally erudite and far more sober look, consider "Moorish Spain" by Richard Fletcher.

An ornament, worthy of 5 stars
This book possesses the characteristics of a novel rather than a book of history in many ways. The author describes and narrates historical events, personalities and notions in a very delicate, riveting, and beautiful manner yet maintaining a plain language and thus addresses all levels of intellectual capacity among readers.
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Subjects:  1. Christians    2. Europe - Spain & Portugal    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Medieval    7. Medieval World History (Circa 450 - Circa 1450)    8. Muslims    9. Spain    10. Toleration    11. Western Europe - General    12. European history: c 500 to c 1500    13. History / Medieval    14. Interfaith relations    15. c 1000 CE to c 1500   

Reviews (2)

Challenging Theory
This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the history of the Americas, colonial history or comparative studies of the American countries. Although it is based largely on secondary sources it reflects the enormous amount of work that the author has carried out in his previous books on Spain. The most interestin feature of the book is how Elliott points out the similarities between the British and Spanish Empires in the Americas; a fact that most historians have previously tended to ignore.

An important contribution
Colonialism and Empire are the two most important subjects in history, no other subject exists without them and the discovery of the New World and its repopulation/depopulation is one fo the great episodes of human history.The colonies in America can be easily put into two categories, the Anglo ones and the Catholic ones.Despite small French and Portugues and Dutch intrusions, the overall lesson is one of difference between these two great naval powers and the makeup of their colonial systems.
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Subjects:  1. America    2. Americas (North Central South West Indies)    3. Atlantic Ocean Region    4. British    5. Colonies    6. Colonies And Colonization    7. Europe - Great Britain - General    8. Europe - Spain & Portugal    9. History    10. History - General History    11. History: American    12. North America - History    13. Spain    14. Spaniards    15. United States - Colonial Period    16. World - Colonial Studies    17. Empires & historical states    18. History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies)    19. USA    20. United Kingdom, Great Britain    21. World history: c 1500 to c 1750    22. World history: c 1750 to c 1900    23. World history: c 500 to C 1500   

Reviews (17)

Nunca se separe de su ejemplar
Es de los libros que nos ayudan a liberarnos de los prejuicios. Otorga libertad. Me lo leo una vez al mes. Lo que ense�a en sus paginas es dificil de aplicar a la vida en pocas semanas. Hay que leerlo cada cierto periodo.

Insiteful & Soulful
Each book of Miguel Ruiz has a unique perspective and way to show a journey for an individual, which will bring them from any darkness they are experiencing into their own light of happiness.I give away these books as gifts as I find them incredible assets for everyday living.
This is a great book,.
Please learn to reflect every day. think on todays day like it is the last day of your life and enjoy it the best that you can ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient Philosophy    2. Careers - General    3. Conduct of life    4. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    5. General    6. History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical    7. Miscellanea    8. Normative Ethics    9. Personal Growth - General    10. Philosophy    11. Psychology    12. Spanish: Adult Nonfiction    13. Toltec philosophy   

Reviews (8)

A refreshing, compact look at Sephardic history
It has often been difficult for me to keep old textbooks.Oftentimes they're dry as toast and I can't wait to foist them off to the university bookstore again.However, I kept Gerber's book after my Spanish Jewry class ended.Simply put, it's a nice little treasure.
"Basta mi nombre que es Abrabanel."
THE JEWS OF SPAIN is an eminently readable and important survey history of the Ibero-Jewish experience from Biblical times. The Jews of Sepharad (Spain) are first mentioned in the Prophetic Book of Obadiah. From this beginning in antiquity, they can trace their history on Spanish soil right down to the present day.
True Experience
I am a Sephardic Jew,I have thought these thoughts and felt these feelings.I read the book and was surprised that my thoughts and feelings were far from uncommon among Spain's exiles and Jane Gerber captured it truly. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Spain & Portugal    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Jewish - General    6. Judaism - General    7. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    8. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    9. Jewish studies    10. Judaism    11. Religion / Judaism / General    12. Spain   

Reviews (23)

Good author, bad editor
This is an excellent book, which has received much well deserved praise. Rather than repeating the praise, I would like to take up a few points which I feel a good editor would have corrected:
The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
A very good book for the period leading up to WWII....an interesting read for all those interested in WWII and the events that defined what really happened. Provides in-depth facts and represents well thought-out research....a very good read.

Mad Delusion Of Propaganda
The Battle For Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 is a book that focuses on not just the causes of the conflict and military actions taken during it, but also on the ideals, goals and politics that shaped the two sides.
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Subjects:  1. Civil War, 1936-1939    2. Europe - Spain & Portugal    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. History: World    6. Military - Other    7. Revolutionary    8. Spain    9. History / Military / General   

Reviews (2)

How Latin America developed a Nationalist Identity
This fantastically rich book presents the growth of nationalist consciousness in what would become the primary latin american nations.
Interesting View Into Spanish America
D. A. Brading is an authoritative scholar in Spanish American studies.His main focus is in the Mexican past and he has definately earned the respect of his collegues and those intrested in history world-wide.This book gives an impressionable account od Latin America, from the rise of the Spanish Empire and the development of Spanish colonialism to the the effective end of imperial control in the late nineteenth century.The Spanish empire and system of colonization differs greatly from English and even Portugese systems and further reading will illustrate that. Many scholars believe it explains the difficult experience of state building of the Latin American states during the nineteenth century. If you'd like more knowledge about the Spanish American past, this book is a definate must read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - General History    3. History - U.S.    4. History: World    5. Latin America - General    6. United States - Colonial Period    7. American history: c 1500 to c 1800    8. Central America    9. History / Latin America    10. Modern period, c 1500 onwards    11. South America   

Reviews (4)

FAB!!!
This book gives a GREAT history on these "spanish style homes"...as soon as the book arrived, i went thru it just studying the photos ans reading the subtitles - (i was imediately educated on the style). Then i went and started reading it from the beginning. WOAH!!!! It did a great job at explaining the history and the developement of what we just generally refer to "spanish style." Building a Spanish Colonial? This is the Bible.
In researching a Spanish Colonial retirement home for Florida, I've reviewed numerous similar books.As noted in the other reviews most books deal with the top-of-the-line mansions and hotels in this style.This book has a chapter just on examples of modest houses in this style.It has another chapter on small scale courtyard apartment projects.It has tons of the details you might want to employ to give your home the "authentic" feel.Of all the books I read, this is the one I BOUGHT!!

Buy this Book!
There are books out there that cover the spanish revival style, but, most tend to focus on the larger than life homes of people who can afford magnificent, large estates. Finally, a book that not only showcases the large estates out there, but, more importantly for me, the "smaller" more realistically sized homes that I could see myself living in. If you love this style of architecture as I do, buy this book, you will not be disappointed! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Architecture, Domestic    3. Design & Construction    4. Design & Drafting    5. Domestic architecture    6. History - Specific Styles    7. Mission style    8. Spanish influences    9. United States    10. Architecture / History   

Reviews (14)

An excellent expansion on Adventures in the Unknown Interior
`Brutal Journey' retells one of the most incredible (and least know) chapters of the early European exploration of the Americas - the spectacular failure ofPanfilo de Narvaez in his attempt to conquer the Gulf Coast of North America, and the ordeal of the four men (out of an original four hundred) who survived. Though the story had already been told in a first hand account by survivor Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in his `Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America', there was amble reason for Schneider to revisit and expand upon this fascinating story.
Apt title
Exciting and, like the title, brutal account of the ill-fated attempt by Panfilo Narvaez to claim Florida - and the unexplored regions to the north and west - for Spain in the early 1530s. 400 conquistadors and slaves set out on this mission for King, God and the Church - only 4 survived. Largely based on the document by one of the survivors, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, this account reads like an adventure novel, history lesson and anthropology study all in one. After storms at sea, encounters with native tribes both peaceful and bloody, extreme starvation, disease, slavery and even cannibalism, the narrative takes an amazing turn as the final four survivors are mistaken for faith healers by an Indian tribe. They become massive celebrities and embark on a cross-country tour across the country, 250 years before Lewis and Clark followed their route. I've never heard of this story or read much into this time period, but it's fascinating stuff and this was an excellent read. The budget would be enormous, but this would make a fantastic movie. 5/5.

Great Reading for the Armchair Explorer
This is a story you want to read about as an armchair explorer.You certainly wouldn't want to live it.It is a tale of suffering.Starvation, torture, cannibalism, slavery, and dealing with various Indian tribes in addition to endurance survivors didn't realize they were capable of all were factors that had to be dealt with in this trip from Florida across the Gulf of Mexico, down the southeast coast of Texas and into Mexico.The author uses Cabeza de Vaca's journal as his primary source for his information, and admits that guesses have to be made at times in determining what may have occurred.Cabeza de Vaca's account of the trip was written some years following the trip in an attempt to acquire recognition and favors from the king of Spain and the public for his suffering, so this must be taken into account as well in determining how factual the account is.Of close to 400 people who started out on this trip only four survived.In addition to Cabeza de Vaca the only survivors were three others named Dorantes, Castillo, and a black Moroccan named Esteban.There are many excellent books involving exploration, especially those of Samuel Eliot Morison, and this one by author Paul Schneider provides us with a neglected subject regarding North American exploration. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 16th century    2. America    3. Biography    4. Europe - Spain & Portugal    5. Expeditions & Discoveries    6. Explorers    7. General    8. History    9. History - General History    10. History: World    11. Indians of North America    12. North American    13. Spain   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Cuba - History    4. Political    5. Spanish: Adult Nonfiction    6. Biography & Autobiography / Political   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. European    5. Exhibitions    6. Fashion    7. Fashion design    8. France    9. General    10. History    11. Individual Artist    12. Spain    13. Art / General    14. Needlework & fabric crafts   

Editorial Review

The buzz about the Guggenheim Bilbão aside, the Basques seldom get good press--from the 12th-century Read more

Reviews (73)

Recommended
Have you ever been to San Sebastian in Spain? Have you ever been to a Basque Restaurant in Bakersfield, California or any other place?Have you ever heard of The Basque People?Especiallyif your answer is "no" to the above, you can learn about these surprisingly enterprising people who live in The Pyranees Mountains. They have existed as a people and a culture since 200 BC and earlier. They existed during Roman times and they still exist. And they have a rich, active, history that matches the accomplishments of entire countries.They have been successful entrepreneures for two thousand years of recorded history!This book is worth reading.I promise!
All Things Basque
This book is a social history of the Basque peoples.The main part of the story begins in Roman times, and continues through the 1990s. Kurlansky traces how the seafaring trades of the Basques led them to early financial success. He goes to explain how they became the industrial leaders of Europe for many years.Kurlansky also discusses the rise of Basque nationalism and the contemporary political issues.
Really a 3-1/2 star, but definitely worth reading
The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky is another great book by a great author. I truly enjoyed his others books Cod and Salt (especially Salt, which shouldn't be missed). His love for the Basque people shone through in both of those previous books as he devotes sections to them in each. This book was his great opportunity to share his love for the people with the world and help us to gain a greater understanding for this nation of people without borders who have clung to their languages and their land through thousands of years of occupations and wars. The beginning of the book starts well describing the Basque people and their reported origins and includes interesting tidbits about their biology (40% type O blood), but there are no real answers. There are interesting quirky recipes I can't imagine anyone actually trying, but they are lovely to read. The middle of the book slows down as Kurlansky gives special attention to the plight of the Basques during World War II, especially the bombing of Guernica, and the rise of Franco to power. I can feel Kurlansky's love for these people, and so his passion spills across each page as he describes the struggles the Basques went through under Franco, but much of the book slogs down under the political manipulations, and part of beauty of the book slips away. At the end Kurlansky returns to the stories of the individuals who make up the Basque nation and gives a feeling of hope for them. Ultimately the reader feels as though they have spent time in the country, seen some customs, met some fascinating people, and learned a little about their history, but now the vacation is over and it's time to return to the real world, unable to truly grasp what it really means to be Basque. And I think that just how a Basque would want it.
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Subjects:  1. Basques    2. Europe - Spain & Portugal    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Paâis Vasco (Spain)    7. Western Europe - General    8. History / Spain & Portugal   

Reviews (17)

Amazing first person historical account
First person historical accounts are generally the best way to read history and have it come alive in the mind of the reader. This book by Bernal Diaz is certainly no exception to that rule. Although Diaz wrote this much later in life, and doubtless his memory was not perfect, it is obvious that the experience of marching with Cortez in the conquest of the Aztec empire left innumerable vivid memories in his mind.
Every mexican and american in the west should read this.
most mexican-pride types haven't hit this book.if they did they would be greatly enlightened by the fact that mexico was not a united nation from campeche to oregon.the aztecs subjugated their neighbors just like the mexico city elite subjugate the common mexican to this day.this is one of the best books i've ever read and if you plan to visit mexico city it is a must-read if you want to have any basic understanding of modern mexico city and mexico in general.read it.

A great history of Mexico
This is the classic book on the history of the conquest of Mexico.Bernal Diaz fought on the front lines of Cortez's war, and he reports everything well in this book.
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Subjects:  1. 1485-1547    2. Conquest, 1519-1540    3. Cortâes, Hernâan,    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Latin America - Mexico    8. Latin America - South America    9. Mexico    10. American history: c 1500 to c 1800    11. History / Military / General   

Reviews (4)

Spanish Architecture a la Florida is Different than California
The first town in the New World was in Florida and it was a Spanish town. Since then the Spanish influence on the arthitecture and culture of Florida has been large.
book review
we are having a new villa style home built and have gotten many wonderful ideas from the camera art in this book.page after page of wonderful spanish/mediterranean homes are pictured in this beautiful volume.

Spanish Mansions Oh My!
In my hunt for more information on Spanish Style homes, (I own a bungalow in California), I have been frustrated at the limited amount of books out there.I work at a Library, and many of the patrons share the same frustrations.In order to be able to find books on these subjects, I have had to self-teach about the many surrounding subjects; ie, tiles, Mexico, Moorish, Morocco, Spain, etc.This book is one of the better ones.It has beautiful pictures on how to decorate and landscape.I learned that air-conditioning changed architecture in a substantive way.I had also never heard about concrete ceilings made to look like wood before, apparently a Florida staple, due to humidity.These houses are oh-my-Gorgeous!The only problem was that the author frequently discussed beautiful rooms and details of the houses, then didn't show pictures.Maybe/hopefully, they're saving those pics for a follow-up book on interiors and details?I agree with the previous reviewer, how about a book now on Florida Spanish bungalows? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Decorating    3. Decorating - General    4. History - Specific Styles    5. House & Home    6. Interior Design    7. Vernacular Architecture    8. House & Home / Decorating