Land
General information about Iberian geography appears in books about the physical geography of the Mediterranean area and of Europe, notably Russell King, Lindsay Proudfoot, and Bernard Smith (eds.), The Mediterranean: Environment and Society (1997), a general overview of the historical, environmental, geographical, and social features of the Mediterranean basin; Catherine Delano Smith (Catherine Delano-Smith), Western Mediterranean Europe: A Historical Geography of Italy, Spain, and Southern France Since the Neolithic (1979), a systematic approach to the historical aspects of environment, settlement, and economy; J.M. Houston, The Western Mediterranean World: An Introduction to Its Regional Landscapes, 3rd ed. (1971); and Clifford Embleton (ed.), Geomorphology of Europe (1984). Ricardo Méndez and Fernando Molinero, Geografía de España (1993), provides a general survey of the geography of Spain, with a focus on the environment and the economy. Manuel de Téran, L. Solé Sabarís, and J. Vilà Valentí (eds.), Geografía regional de España, 5th ed., rev. and updated (1987), is the most complete work on the subject. J.Ma. García Alvarado and J.A. Sotelo Navalpotro (eds.), La España de las autonomías (1999), surveys the Spanish autonomies (regions). J. Vilà Valentí, La Península ibérica (1968, reprinted 1983), gives a good concise description of the country. Adolf Schulten, Geographie des antiken Spanien, 2nd ed. (1974), vol. 1 of Iberische Landeskunde, is an exhaustive scholarly work on the geography of the Iberian Peninsula in ancient times. Antonio Gilman, John B. Thornes, and Stephen Wise, Land-Use and Prehistory in South-East Spain (1985), focuses on an earlier period. Aguilar, S.A. de Ediciones, Atlas gráfico de España, 3rd ed. (1984), is a regional approach, with clear, large-scale maps accompanied by short texts in Spanish on a variety of aspects.
Catherine Delano Smith History
Pre-Roman Spain
A general book, richly illustrated, is Richard J. Harrison, Spain at the Dawn of History: Iberians, Phoenicians, and Greeks (1988). Arturo Ruiz and Manuel Molinos, The Archaeology of the Iberians (1998; originally published in Spanish, 1993), is a study of the prehistoric archaeology of Spain. Antonio Beltrán, Rock Art of the Spanish Levant, trans. from Italian (1982), gives an account of Mesolithic rock art.
Richard John Harrison Roman Spain
Works on this period include C.H.V. Sutherland, The Romans in Spain, 217 B.C.–A.D. 117 (1939, reprinted 1982); S.J. Keay, Roman Spain (1988); Leonard A. Curchin, Roman Spain: Conquest and Assimilation (1991, reissued 1995); J.S. Richardson, The Romans in Spain (1996, reissued 1998); and A.T. Fear, Rome and Baetica: Urbanization in Southern Spain, c. 50 BC–AD 150 (1996).
John S. Richardson Adrian Shubert Visigothic Spain
E.A. Thompson, The Goths in Spain (1969); Kenneth Baxter Wolf (trans. and ed.), Conquerors and Chroniclers of Early Medieval Spain, 2nd ed., trans. from Latin (1999); and the collection of essays in Edward James (ed.), Visigothic Spain: New Approaches (1980), are informative studies of the Visigothic period.
Christian Spain from the Muslim invasion to 1479
Joseph F. O’Callaghan, A History of Medieval Spain (1975, reissued 1983), is the standard survey in English. Roger Collins, Early Medieval Spain: Unity and Diversity, 400–1000, 2nd ed. (1995); and Angus MacKay, Spain in the Middle Ages: From Frontier to Empire, 1000–1500 (1977, reissued 1989), cover the medieval period. J.N. Hillgarth, The Spanish Kingdoms, 1250–1516, 2 vol. (1976–78), studies the late Middle Ages in greater detail. Derek W. Lomax, The Reconquest of Spain (1978), focuses primarily on military history. A modern work on the Cid is Richard Fletcher, The Quest for El Cid (1989, reissued 1991). Also important are Thomas F. Glick, From Muslim Fortress to Christian Castle: Social and Cultural Change in Medieval Spain (1995); James F. Powers, A Society Organized for War: The Iberian Municipal Militias in the Central Middle Ages, 1000–1284 (1987); and Heath Dillard, Daughters of the Reconquest: Women in Castilian Town Society, 1100–1300 (1984, reissued 1989). Robert Ignatius Burns, The Crusader Kingdom of Valencia: Reconstruction on a Thirteenth-Century Frontier, 2 vol. (1967), Islam Under the Crusaders: Colonial Survival in the Thirteenth-Century Kingdom of Valencia (1973), and Medieval Colonialism: Postcrusade Exploitation of Islamic Valencia (1975); and the excellent Mark D. Meyerson, The Muslims of Valencia in the Age of Fernando and Isabel: Between Coexistence and Crusade (1991), all deal with the settlement of Valencia and the fate of the Muslims who remained behind after the Christian reconquest. David Nirenberg, Communities of Violence: Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages (1996, reprinted with corrections, 1998), is an important discussion of relations among Jews, Christians, and Muslims in medieval Europe. Mark D. Meyerson, A Jewish Renaissance in Fifteenth-Century Spain (2004), is an important recent study of Jews in late medieval Spain.
Muslim Spain
Valuable works include Hugh Kennedy, Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of Al-Andalus (1996); Thomas F. Glick, Islamic and Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages (1979); Olivia Remie Constable, Trade and Traders in Muslim Spain: The Commercial Realignment of the Iberian Peninsula, 900–1500 (1994, reissued 1996); Richard Fletcher, Moorish Spain (1992, reissued 1998); and L.P. Harvey, Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500 (1990, reissued 1992).
United Spain under the Catholic Monarchs and the Habsburgs
J.H. Elliott, Imperial Spain, 1469–1716 (1963, reissued 1977), is the best single work covering this period. Henry Kamen, Spain, 1469–1714: A Society of Conflict, 2nd ed. (1991), is a short introduction. Stephen Haliczer, The Comuneros of Castile: The Forging of a Revolution, 1475–1521 (1981), is an important corrective to the traditional overvaluation of the Catholic Monarchs. Recent work on the Inquisition includes Norman Roth, Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1995); Angel Alcalá (ed.), The Spanish Inquisition and the Inquisitorial Mind (1987; originally published in Spanish, 1984); Henry Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition: An Historical Revision (1997); B. Netanyahu, The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain (1995); and Mary E. Giles (ed.), Women in the Inquisition: Spain and the New World (1999).
John Lynch, Spain Under the Habsburgs, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1981, reissued 1984), provides a good overview of early modern Spain. Antonio Domínguez Ortiz, The Golden Age of Spain, 1516–1659 (1971), is a synthesis by one of the most distinguished Spanish scholars. Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, 2 vol. (1972–73, reissued 1995; trans. from French 2nd rev. ed., 1966), is an economic and historical geography of the Mediterranean basin during the 16th century, in which Spain plays a central role; this book has become a classic. M.J. Rodríguez-Salgado, The Changing Face of Empire: Charles V, Philip II, and Habsburg Authority, 1551–1559 (1988), discusses Spanish foreign policy. Geoffrey Parker, Philip II, 3rd ed. (1995), is a balanced study. Henry Kamen, Philip of Spain (1997), is a recent and controversial biography. John Francis Guilmartin, Jr., Gunpowder and Galleys: Changing Technology and Mediterranean Warfare at Sea in the Sixteenth Century (1974), studies war in the Mediterranean. Many books were published for the 400th anniversary of the Armada campaign; among these is Colin Martin and Geoffrey Parker, The Spanish Armada, 2nd rev. ed. (1999). Geoffrey Parker, The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road, 1567–1659: The Logistics of Spanish Victory and Defeat in the Low Countries’ Wars (1972, reprinted with corrections, 1995), is the definitive work on the Spanish army in western Europe; and R.A. Stradling, The Armada of Flanders: Spanish Maritime Policy and European War, 1568–1668 (1992), is the equivalent for the Spanish navy. I.A.A. Thompson, War and Government in Habsburg Spain, 1560–1620 (1976), studies the effects of war on government in Spain. Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic and the Hispanic World, 1606–1661 (1982, reprinted 1986), is also useful. J.H. Elliott, The Revolt of the Catalans: A Study in the Decline of Spain, 1598–1640 (1963, reissued 1984), and The Count-Duke of Olivares: The Statesman in an Age of Decline (1986), are outstanding contributions to Spanish history written in English. J.H. Parry, The Spanish Seaborne Empire (1966, reprinted 1990), is an excellent sketch of its subject. Jonathan Brown and J.H. Elliott, A Palace for a King: The Buen Retiro and the Court of Philip IV (1980, reissued 1986), successfully attempts to integrate the history of art with political history. Henry Kamen, The Phoenix and the Flame: Catalonia and the Counter Reformation (1993), is an interesting study of 16th- and 17th-century Catalonia. Sara T. Nalle, God in La Mancha: Religious Reform and the People of Cuenca, 1500–1650 (1992), is a fascinating study of religious practice in one Castilian province.
The 18th century
John Lynch, Bourbon Spain, 1700–1808 (1989, reprinted 1993), is an excellent survey. Two specialist studies, using modern techniques, are Richard Herr, Rural Change and Royal Finances in Spain at the End of the Old Regime (1989); and David R. Ringrose, Transportation and Economic Stagnation in Spain, 1750–1850 (1970). Other specific topics are addressed by William J. Callahan, Church, Politics, and Society in Spain, 1750–1874 (1984), and Honor, Industry, and Commerce in 18th Century Spain (1972); and Richard Herr, The Eighteenth-Century Revolution in Spain (1958, reissued 1969), on the reign of Charles III.
The 19th and early 20th centuries
Gerald Brenan, The Spanish Labyrinth: An Account of the Social and Political Background of the Civil War, 2nd ed. (1950, reissued 1993), remains a stimulating introduction to the problems of modern Spain. General histories of political, economic, and social developments include José Alvarez Junco and Adrian Shubert (eds.), Spanish History since 1808 (2000); Adrian Shubert, A Social History of Modern Spain (1990, reprinted 1992); Raymond Carr, Spain, 1808–1975, 2nd ed. (1982); Stanley G. Payne, Politics and the Military in Modern Spain (1967); and Carolyn P. Boyd, Praetorian Politics in Liberal Spain (1979).
There has been a renewal of interest in the economic history of this period. The classic work is Jordi Nadal, El fracaso de la revolución industrial en España, 1814–1913, 5th ed. (1982). David R. Ringrose, Spain, Europe, and the “Spanish Miracle,” 1700–1900 (1996, reissued 1998); and Leandro Prados de la Escosura, De imperio a nación: crecimiento y atraso económico en España (1780–1930) (1988), provide revisionist views of Spain’s economic history.
Sources on early- and mid-19th-century politics include Jesus Cruz, Gentlemen, Bourgeois, and Revolutionaries: Political Change and Cultural Persistence among the Spanish Dominant Groups, 1750–1850 (1996); Renato Barahona, Vizcaya on the Eve of Carlism: Politics and Society, 1800–1833 (1989); V.G. Kiernan, The Revolution of 1854 in Spanish History (1966); and C.A.M. Hennessy, The Federal Republic in Spain: Pi y Margall and the Federal Republican Movement, 1868–74 (1962, reprinted 1980). Pamela Beth Radcliff, From Mobilization to Civil War: The Politics of Polarization in the Spanish City of Gijon, 1900–1937 (1996), is an important study of politics in one major city. Paul Heywood, Marxism and the Failure of Organised Socialism in Spain, 1879–1936 (1990), analyzes the socialist party. Studies of the place of the church in society and politics include William J. Callahan, Church, Politics, and Society in Spain, 1750–1874 (1984); and Joan Connelly Ullman, The Tragic Week: A Study of Anti-Clericalism in Spain, 1875–1912 (1968).
Among the important recent works on the late Spanish empire are Christopher Schmidt-Nowara, Empire and Antislavery: Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, 1833–1874 (1999); and Sebastian Balfour, The End of the Spanish Empire, 1898–1923 (1997).
Primo de Rivera (1923–30) and the Second Republic (1931–36)
The excellent but misleadingly titled work by Shlomo Ben-Ami, Fascism from Above: The Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera in Spain, 1923–1930 (1983), deals with the dictatorship, and The Origins of the Second Republic in Spain (1978), chronicles its collapse. George Esenwein and Adrian Shubert, Spain at War: The Spanish Civil War in Context, 1931–1939 (1995), is a recent synthesis. Paul Preston, The Coming of the Spanish Civil War: Reform, Reaction, and Revolution in the Second Republic, 2nd ed. (1994); Nigel Townson, The Crisis of Democracy in Spain: Centrist Politics under the Second Republic, 1931–1936 (2000); and Edward E. Malefakis, Agrarian Reform and Peasant Revolution in Spain: Origins of the Civil War (1970), are detailed studies of aspects of politics during the Second Republic.
The Civil War (1936–39) and Franco’s Spain (1939–75)
Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, 3rd ed., rev. and enlarged (1977, reissued 1994), is a narrative history; Raymond Carr, The Civil War in Spain, 1936–39, new ed. (1986), takes a wider view. Burnett Bolloten, The Spanish Civil War: Revolution and Counterrevolution (1991), is an encyclopaedic account. George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia (1938, reissued 2000), remains a classic account of political feuds in Barcelona. Michael Alpert, A New International History of the Spanish Civil War (1994, reissued 1997), covers international aspects of the conflict; and Mary Nash, Defying Male Civilization: Women in the Spanish Civil War (1995), covers the role of women.
The standard work on Francoism is Stanley G. Payne, The Franco Regime, 1936–1975 (1987, reissued 2000). Paul Preston, Franco: A Biography (1993, reissued 1995), is the definitive account of the dictator’s life. Michael Richards, A Time of Silence: Civil War and the Culture of Repression in Franco’s Spain, 1936–1945 (1998), is a provocative study of early Francoism. Amando de Miguel, Manual de estructura social de España (1974), discusses Francoist society. Sebastian Balfour, Dictatorship, Workers, and the City: Labour in Greater Barcelona Since 1939 (1989), is an excellent study of the labour movement.
Spain since 1975
Sources on the period of political transition include Raymond Carr and Juan Pablo Fusi Aizpurúa, Spain: Dictatorship to Democracy, 2nd ed. (1981, reissued 1991; originally published in Spanish, 1979); and Paul Preston, The Triumph of Democracy in Spain (1986, reissued 1990). Víctor M. Pérez-Díaz, The Return of Civil Society: The Emergence of Democratic Spain (1993, reissued 1998; originally published in Spanish, 1987), is an important interpretive essay. Charles T. Powell, El piloto del cambio: el rey, la monarquía y la transición a la democracia (1991), examines the role of King Juan Carlos in the transition.
Among the many studies of regional nationalism, the most important include Daniele Conversi, The Basques, the Catalans, and Spain: Alternative Routes to Nationalist Mobilisation (1997, reissued 2000); Juan Díez Medrano, Divided Nations: Class, Politics, and Nationalism in the Basque Country and Catalonia (1995); and Robert P. Clark, The Basque Insurgents: ETA, 1952–1980 (1984), and Negotiating with ETA: Obstacles to Peace in the Basque Country, 1975–1988 (1990).
Adrian Shubert
