A history of Spain / Simon Barton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barton, Simon, 1962-2017.

Series:

Palgrave essential histories

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Spain--History.

Spain.

History.

Physical Description:

xviii, 302 pages : maps ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Summary:

'Spain is different' was for a long time the explanation proffered by historians when they sought to explain the course of the nation's exceptionally rich and varied history. Spain was the only region in the medieval West (along with Sicily) to experience Islamic conquest; the first nation to lay claim to a global empire and the first to lose it; and the country in which the extreme forces of the Left and the Right were to act out one of the bloodiest confrontations Europe has known. Some argued that it was because Spain's 'historical destiny' was seemingly so far out of step with that of its neighbours that the country failed to keep up, politically, socially and economically, with the rest of Western Europe. Today, however, as Spain has become firmly integrated into the political and economic structures of the European Union, the long-held notion that the country is a nation apart no longer seems valid. Simon Barton probes the extent to which Spain should be regarded as an exceptional case and provides a highly readable, lucid and balanced account of its vibrant and colourful history, from its origins to the present day.

Contents:

1 The Pride and Ornament of the World: Prehistory to AD 1000 1

Origins 1

Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians 4

Roman Hispania 6

The twilight of Roman rule 12

The kingdom of the Visigoths 13

The 'ruin of Spain' 21

Al-Andalus 25

The Umayyad emirate 27

'The other Spains' 31

The caliphate of Cordoba 37

2 The Ascendancy of Christian Iberia, AD 1000-1474 44

The fall of the Umayyad caliphate 44

The Almoravid invasion 49

The 'Europeanization' of Christian Iberia 52

Reconquest and crusade 55

The rise and fall of the Almohad empire 58

An expanding society 63

The land of three religions 69

Iberian politics, 1250-1350 72

Kingship and government 77

Cultural developments 80

Crisis and recovery 83

3 The Universal Monarchy, 1474-1700 89

The Catholic Monarchs 89

A new monarchy? 91

The Reconquest completed 94

The advance of empire 96

The quest for religious unity 99

The Habsburg succession 102

Charles V and the defence of empire 104

Spain and the New World 108

Philip II: the apogee of Spanish power 111

The 'Black Legend' 118

The strains of empire 119

Philip III and the Pax Hispanica 120

Philip IV and Olivares: the defence of reputation 123

Social and economic developments 126

Cultural trends 130

The last of the Habsburgs 132

4 The Enlightened Despots, 1700-1833 134

The War of the Spanish Succession 134

The government of Philip V (1700-46) 138

Ferdinand VI (1746-59) 141

Charles III (1759-88) 143

Charles IV and the crisis of the ancien regime 149

Society and economy in Bourbon Spain 153

Spain and the Enlightenment 159

Spain and its American empire 160

The War of Independence 164

The independence of Spanish America 168

Revolution and reaction 169

5 Liberalism and Reaction, 1833-1931 172

Demographic change 172

Agrarian society: expansion and stagnation 173

A failed Industrial Revolution? 175

Cultural developments 180

Political change: the liberal ascendancy 182

Praetorian politics 186

The Moderate decade 187

The 'Progressive Revolution' and the Liberal Union 189

The 'Glorious Revolution' and the First Republic 190

The Restoration System 193

The Cuban Disaster 195

Other critics of the regime 197

Church and society 201

The crisis of Liberal Spain 202

The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera 206

6 The Modern Era, 1931-2000 210

The Second Republic: 'the reforming years' 210

The 'two black years' 216

The road to civil war 219

The Spanish tragedy 222

The Nationalist zone 225

The Republican zone 227

The fall of the Republic 230

Francoism triumphant 231

Spain and World War II 235

The 'Sentinel of the West' 237

Change and its consequences 239

The transition to democracy 243

The triumph of the Centre 249

The new Spaniards 253.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-275) and index.

ISBN:

0333632575

0333632583

OCLC:

53130814