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From the ancient Phoenicians through Maimonides to Pablo Picasso's retrospective exhibit at the Museum of Moden Art in 1980, this fascinating swift trip through the past spans more than three thousand years of Spain's Andalusian civilization, the oldest in the Western world.

Allen Josephs focuses on the cultural distinctions that have set Andalucia apart throughout recorded history: its Oriental origins, its ancient commerce and industry, its religious practices, and its varied artistic expression of those practices through music, dance, and the drama of toreo. In a marvel of synthesis, Josephs interweaves the writings of poets, historians, and archaeologists from Strabo and Polybius to Adolph Schulten, Richard Ford, Jose Ortega y Gasset, and Federico Garcia Lorca to illuminate the pervasive influence of this ancient culture on all Hispanic peoples. ... Read more

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The Drama of the Portrait examines the motif of portraiture in Spanish Golden Age theater, drawing from a wide range of drama and imagery to enrich our understanding of the social functions of portraiture and the importance of the theater as a venue for visual education in the court society of early modern Madrid. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this is a model of interdisciplinary scholarship that deftly interweaves detailed research in Spanish art history and material culture, treatises on painting, and the social history of portraiture with original readings of plays. The Drama of the Portrait illuminates collaborations among artists whose work crossed boundaries in ways far more complex than traditional scholarship has acknowledged. Dramatists like Lope de Vega and Pedro Calderon de la Barca contributed to a culture of connoisseurship that promoted painters such as Diego Velazquez. Both writers and painters shared in the task of constructing Spain's image of itself. At the same time, they were keenly attuned to the social, political, and economic tensions of their age. The great playwrights and artists of the Spanish Baroque dramatized the crisis points in a society that depended on theater and painting for its own representation but remained deeply ambivalent about both art forms. ... Read more

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This volume of essays contains contributions from a very wide range of British, American and Spanish scholars. Its primary concern is the relationships between the various ethnic, cultural, regional, and religious communities that co-existed in the Iberian peninsula in the later Middle Ages. Conflicts and mutual interactions between them are here explored in a range of both historical and literary studies, to expose something of the rich diversity of the cultural life of later medieval Spain.
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This is the first complete reference book on Spanish history, life, and culture from prehistory to 1994 and the only book on Spain in English or Spanish that is organized by region and province. It is designed to assist students and interested readers in identifying and understanding regional and provincial history, economy, literature, art, music, social customs and cultural life, historic sites, and provincial cuisine (recipes included). Organized into entries on the 18 regions and subdivided into the 50 provinces, this one-stop reference makes gathering information on each region and province easy. A map of each region and photos accompany the text. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Super Reference Work
This book has a dictionary-like format, with regions listed alphabetically, and a standardized sequence of topics for each region.It is full of facts and the kind of fascinating detail that gets passed over in general works about Spain.The author treats the history, geography, literature, music, art, even a recipe for each region.Lots of fun to browse or to prepare for a trip!However, not a sit-down-and-read-cover-to-cover type of book.

EXCELLENT CONTENT--FORMAT COULD BE IMPROVED
I found the book to be an excellent source for the history, geography, culture, literature, art, sites, and even dress, cuisine, and dance characteristic of each of Spain's 50 provinces. However, there are several errors in the statistical data given (POPULATION, AREA,ECONOMY), --for example, confusing Huesca and Huelva. I also would have wished to have better maps, more photos and possibly some color in the illustrations. The author also groups the regions and provinces alphabetically which might have been better if done by population or geographically. Overall, however, excellent and a wonderful reference for anyone interested in Spain. I only wish other nations had such a concise yet complete guide by region and political unit as has been done by the author for Spain. ... Read more

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The news media have demonstrated the ambiguity of ostensibly truthful representations of public events. Jordana Mendelson uses this ambiguity as a framework for the study of Spanish visual culture from 1929 to 1939. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

A must for anyone interested in this period of Spanish history
An exellent book, well written and well presented.Perhaps the only downfall is that Anwar Chejne is something of an Arab nationalist (I dont know what his ethnic origins are but see his book Arabic literature and you will see what I mean)

Highly recomended, along side Lane Poole's book this is probably the best of its kind.I strongly recomend you also buy his 'The Moriscos' by far the best book on the subject ever written far better than Lea's book.

Disappointing
Despite the apparent promise of its size and title, this is a dated and not particularly balanced treatment of its subject. Too given to generalisation, it presents an idealised picture of Muslim Spain. ... Read more

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Features translations and commentaries on two texts from this historical period. ... Read more

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Sepharad is the name that the Spanish Jews gave to the Iberian peninsula, and to remember this place is to remember its people. Highlighting diverse practices--from architectural design to bread-baking; from marriage ceremonies to the legislation of personal attire--Remembering Sepharad traces the vibrant cultural, political, and religious life of the Jewish people in Spain from Roman antiquity to the expulsion of Jews in 1492.

Drawing on a wealth of material, including archaeological pieces, furnishings, codices, sculptures, paintings, scale models, maps, and excerpts from primary texts, this highly readable account recreates the contentious and mutually transformative relationships among Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the period. As a religious and ethnic minority under an alternately Christian or Muslim majority, the Jewish community adapted its cultural practices to the situation, even as it retained its distinctive religious heritage. The material culture of the period thus reflects both the potential for intercultural hybridity and the persistence of the kind of anti-Semitism that culminated in the Inquisition and the expulsion. Remembering Sepharad provides an extensive and beautifully illustrated archive of material that testifies to the diversity and richness of a culture that endured centuries of oppression, leaving an indelible mark on the history of Spain. ... Read more

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Sepharad
A most illuminating and objective historical review of relations between the rulers and their subjects--variously Muslim, Catholic and /or Jewish on the one hand and the virulent unrelenting anti-semitism of the powers in Rome culminating in Iberia--as the author puts it- - "until the "Catholic Monarchs" (Ferdinand and Isabella)eventually accepted what had become a popular clamor, no doubt well organized by a minority of radically anti-semitic clergy in connivance with groups with ulterior motives". This magnum opus was originally issued under the auspices of " La Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior de España--("The State Corporation for Spanish Cultural Action Abroad") and is a must-read for anyone trying to understand the deadly, millenial, visceral, murderous, hatred of Judaism by the church hierarchy. ... Read more

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This volume address the role of literature in the formation of cultural notions of 'state,' 'nation,' 'subject,' and 'citizen' in Spain from the Renaissance to the Romantic period. It brings together literary scholars and historians of the Golden Age and the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in a dialog framed by the rise and dissolution of the Absolutist state.
Individual essays attempt to understand relationships between subjectivity and the state in Spain from the earliest articulations of the "subject" to the consolidation of an array of bourgeois subjectivities. The major argument running throughout the volume is that "literary discourse," from the time it emerges in the sixteenth century to the time it coheres within a wholly modern concept of the "aesthetic," actively develops forms of subjectivity in relation to institutions of class power. The intention of the volume is to clarify central problems regarding the emergence and function of literature across distinct modes of production, state formations, and hegemonic cultures. This book keeps open a debate on the long process through which literature and the aesthetic come to be constituted as a complex arena in which-sometimes directly, more often indirectly-the struggle for state power unfolds. ... Read more

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This volume contains essays on key aspects of cultural, religious, and intellectual life in early modern Spain. Some of the contributions address predominantly historical issues: the reform of the Mercedarian Order; Europe and the Turks in Spanish literature; and the subtleties and intrigues of a propaganda campaign against the Imperial ambassador to the Vatican, Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. Others focus on the relationship between art and society: the nature of Spanish Tacitism; the choices made by the Jeronymite friars charged with buying books for the Escorial Library and planning its decoration; reformist politics under the Olivares régime as portrayed in works by Ruiz de Alarcón; and the development of Sceptical philosophy in Spain. In addition, there are studies of Lazarillo de Tormes, Sá de Miranda, Gracián, and Calderón, and two essays on the dissemination of Spanish culture in Oxford, one on the earliest copies of Don Quixote purchased for the Bodleian Library, and the other on the first teacher of Spanish in the University.Contributors: BRUCE TAYLOR, JEREMY LAWRANCE, THOMAS F. EARLE, D.G. PATTISON, JOHN RUTHERFORD, CHARLES J. DAVIS, COLIN THOMPSON, IAN MICHAEL, JULES WHICKER, JEREMY ROBBINS, ROBERT PRING-MILL, M.J. WOODS, JOHN EDWARDS. ... Read more

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Examines the geography, people, customs, and history of one of the largest countries on the continent of Europe. ... Read more

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Business culture is defined as the state of commercial development in a country, but it also embraces the beliefs, attitudes and values which underpin commercial activities and help to shape corporate behaviour. Europe contains as many business cultures as it does countries. Kevin Bruton examines key features of Spanish business culture which distinguish it from its European competitors. In the case of Spain, the legacy of Francoism is still a phenomenon which the business community is striving to overcome. Of equal significance for the business culture are the future hopes and aspirations, not only of business but also of society at large in a given country. ... Read more

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Surveys the important events in the history of Spain between the voyages of Columbus and the defeat of the Spanish Armada and examines the role of the arts and religion during these two centuries. ... Read more

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Spain in the Age of Exploration
Describes Spain's exploration attempts to the New World, the hardships, and dealing with the Indians.Good color illustrations in this historical book. I would recommend it to students in the 5th grade. ... Read more

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What is the connection between a Spanish cathedral and a tram? Who 'smashed up' the south of Spain and left their mark? Which Spanish painter played tricks with mirrors? This book answers these questions, and many more, in a concise and lively overview of Spain: the country, its languages and its people. If you are studying for examinations which require a knowledge of the background of Spain and its civilisation, or if you are learning the language, in, for example, an evening class and want to know more about the country, this is the book for you. If your job involves travel and business relations, it will provide valuable and practical information about the ways and customs of the people you are working with. Or if you simply have an interest in Spain for whatever reason, it will broaden your knowledge about the country and its inhabitants. The book is divided into three sections. Chapters One and Two deal with the forces -- historical, geographical, geological, demographical and linguistic -- that have brought about the formation of the country we know as Spain and the language we know as Spanish.Chapters Three to Seven deal with the wealth of creative aspects of Spanish culture from the beginnings to the present day.These chapters take a look at the main areas or works of literature, art and architecture, music, traditions and festivals, science and technology, fashion, and food and drink, together with the people who have created and are still creating them. Chapters Eight to Eleven deal with aspects of contemporary Spanish society and the practicalities of living in present-day Spain: the way the political structure of the country is organized, education, the environment, the workplace and how people spend their leisure time. The final chapter looks at the country's political, economic and social relations with the wider world, and takes a glance at the future. Each chapter ends with a section entitled 'Taking it Further', where you will find useful addresses, websites, suggested places to visit and things to see and do. The new edition takes into account any developments in Spanish culture and society, such as the introduction of the euro, which have occurred since first publication. ... Read more

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My Review
It was very informative about Spain and its culture. ... Read more

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