Book on Spanish History

[RJE]

My Camino Frances is booked for Aug-Sep. I’ll be spending my 6 week sabbatical walking from SJPDP to Finisterrrae. I feel good about travel logistics, what to pack, accommodations, etc, thanks to this forum.

To keep my mind occupied until August, I’m looking for book recommendations about Spanish history, the Camino, background into places and things I’ll see along the way, etc.

Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

 

[Bradypus]

Gitlitz and Davidson "The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago".

 

[naplesdon]

Several on my list would be: Gitlitz and Davidson - The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago, Antxon Gabarain (trans. by Rebekah Scott) - The Great Westward Walk, Michener - Iberia and a shameless plug for several other novels written by Moratinos resident Reb Scott.

 

[Tincatinker]

Ghosts of Spain and España: A Brief History of Spain both by Giles Tremlett will give you some background to modern España.

 

[mspath]

For relevant readings on the history of the Spanish Civil War as well as an on line Spanish Civil War Museum see this this earlier thread.

I always found the history of Americans in Spain during the Civil War Spain in Our Hearts by Adam Hochschild to be a precise and poignant account.

 

[J Willhaus]

I just finished Picasso's War by Hugh Eakin about the painting Guernica. I took my students to see it in Madrid in January and had a new appreciation for the history of the artwork after reading the book.

 

[J Willhaus]

I also like to read historical fiction about El Cid. There's a series by Griff Hosker that I read last year.

 

[C clearly]

An excellent 12-hour audio series is The History of Spain: Land on a Crossroad, by Joyce Salisbury. It is available on Audible.com (you can listen free on a free trial month, if you are not a subscriber) and is also free on Kanopy.com if your local library participates.

Good for listening while you walk in training!

 

[naplesdon]

A visit to the towns of Guernica and Durango are a worthwhile detour, both were bombed on a market day by the German and Italian air forces at the request of Franco during the Spanish Civil War.

 

[Kiwi-family]

A visit to the towns of Guernica and Durango are a worthwhile detour, both were bombed on a market day by the German and Italian air forces at the request of Franco during the Spanish Civil War.

Note these are quite the detour if you're on foot! Not a Brierley-esque detour off the Frances for 2km!!

 

[henrythedog]

Don’t go for Anthony Beever’s ‘Spanish Civil War’

It is comprehensive, well researched and well-written; but it is a book for those who want the n’th degree of detail. It’s so good it’s virtually unreadable - and I have all of AB's prior publications so I’m not a stranger to his style.

 

[lalaone]

The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky

If you like historical fiction, the prolific Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte pens entertaining mysteries and thrillers covering many places of interest.

 

[RJE]

Thank you all. I ordered The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago and Espana: A Brief History of Spain to get me started. I’ll add more soon.

I continue to be amazed at the knowledge and generosity of this forum. No way I could prepare for a journey like this without the group’s collective wisdom. Thank you.

I look forward to returning the favor once I complete my Camino.

 

[DreamWeaver]

Thank you all. I ordered The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago and Espana: A Brief History of Spain to get me started. I’ll add more soon.

I continue to be amazed at the knowledge and generosity of this forum. No way I could prepare for a journey like this without the group’s collective wisdom. Thank you.

I look forward to returning the favor once I complete my Camino.

I have Gitlitz and Davidson's in eBook version, so that I can read on the way. It's particularly useful when visiting the churches I could look up at those beautiful carvings on tympanum, then read about it on my phone.

 

[Fyrfalk]

My Camino Frances is booked for Aug-Sep. I’ll be spending my 6 week sabbatical walking from SJPDP to Finisterrrae. I feel good about travel logistics, what to pack, accommodations, etc, thanks to this forum.

To keep my mind occupied until August, I’m looking for book recommendations about Spanish history, the Camino, background into places and things I’ll see along the way, etc.

Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

If it is mainly the Camino history you are interested in a guidebook might be a good idea. For Spanish history, I recently read "A Concise history of Spain" by JR and Carla Phillips and found it to be what it said on the cover: "concise" and very good.

 

[Silvermomma]

I am enjoying "The Story of Spanish" by Nadeau and Barlow, a husband-wife team who also wrote a history of the French language. I heard them interviewed (forgot which podcast) and was intrigued. As they trace the history of the language, they include is a lot of historical, geographical, and political detail -- really interesting stuff.

 

[Mal.C]

'A People Betrayed' by Paul Preston is an especially good book on contemporary Spanish history, an eye opening book which I’ve had to read twice, I see parallels here in the Uk currently, which frighten the hell out of me.

I’d love to see some suggestions from folks on Spanish authors, as Preston is English, maybe being from a different country gives you an arguably more critical standpoint, but I’d like to read something from a Spanish author also that’s a comparable book.

I'll check out, Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez Any other suggestions?

 

[lt56ny]

I have recommended many times here on the forum the excellent podcast about medieval pilgrimage on the Camino called, "The Scholarly Pilgrim". Everything and anything you want and need to know about the history of the Camino from its beginnings. It just started its third season.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

Any other suggestions?

Javier Cercas. "The Anatomy of a moment". The utterly remarkable story of the 1981 coup attempt.

 

[stevelm1]

I found the book "The New Spaniards" by John Hooper very informative about the last 100 years of Spanish history.

 

[RJE]

I have Gitlitz and Davidson's in eBook version, so that I can read on the way. It's particularly useful when visiting the churches I could look up at those beautiful carvings on tympanum, then read about it on my phone.

Yep. That’s what I did. Once I saw the content I knew I’d want it with me on Camino so e-books was best.

 

[Walkalong]

The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky

If you like historical fiction, the prolific Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte pens entertaining mysteries and thrillers covering many places of interest.

The Basque History of the World was good. While not specifically about Spain, Kurlansky's Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World was also a good read.

 

[vwzoo]

My Camino Frances is booked for Aug-Sep. I’ll be spending my 6 week sabbatical walking from SJPDP to Finisterrrae. I feel good about travel logistics, what to pack, accommodations, etc, thanks to this forum.

To keep my mind occupied until August, I’m looking for book recommendations about Spanish history, the Camino, background into places and things I’ll see along the way, etc.

Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

The Way of the Wild Goose by Beebe Bahram was very good

 

[Silvermomma]

I have recommended many times here on the forum the excellent podcast about medieval pilgrimage on the Camino called, "The Scholarly Pilgrim". Everything and anything you want and need to know about the history of the Camino from its beginnings. It just started its third season.

I didn't know about this (and I listen to lots of camino podcasts) and gave it a try. It sounds like a computer-generated voice which was so annoying I couldn't concentrate on the content. I looked for a read-out of the spoken text, but couldn't find one. Please LMK if there is such a thing.