A brief history of Spain......

miguel_gp said:

For those with access to BBC iPlayer and/or On Demand services there has been a recent series on the History of Spain called "Blood and Glory - The Making of Spain".

Link below is to episode 3 which covers the Armada through Franco and the Civil War up to present Day, although the other episodes covering El Cid, The Inquisition and the various conflicts between Christian and Muslim are also available.

Note that there are no Camino references and a lot of the detail, particularly in Ep 2 and 3, is centred on the South of Spain, but it does give a good overview on what over the last 2000 years has influenced the Spain we visit today.

http://bbc.in/1MuJ35j

Episode 1 and 2 are also currently available on You Tube so I expect that episode 3 will also appear soon.

Click to expand...

Hi Miguel, thank you for sharing this.
Wish you well, Peter.

Great lead. Thank you. For those of us who may not be able to view these videos in our home countries, may I suggest you read James Michener's lengthy tome "Iberia?"

This historical fiction is very well researched and is an entertaining romp through development of the culture and societies of the Iberian Peninsula. Bear in mind that all of Michener's historical novels are very long. But they are informative.

I figure that if you must wade though what is otherwise dry material, you might as well be entertained and develop some empathy for the characters. Mr. Michener has won several Pulitzer Prizes for his many historic novels. Iberia happens to be the one that leaves the reader with a lot more knowledge about Spain and Portugal, and their cultures and history than might otherwise be possible.

In the past, I have read it in hard cover. Currently, it resides as a Kindle book on my iPhone and iPad. This allows me to conveniently read snippets when and where I can...

I hope this helps,.

Here is a link to the The Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago) | The Temple of the Stars - Full Documentary
Enjoy

handzondeck2 said:

Here is a link to the The Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago) | The Temple of the Stars - Full Documentary
Enjoy

Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing this, I enjoyd it very much.
Wish you well, Peter.