History and Culture
Books about the history and culture of Andalucia
History
The Story of Mary Herbert and Joseph Gage. Lady Mary Herbert, daughter of the second Marquess of Powis, and her lifelong admirer Joseph Gage, were legendary 18th-century adventurers who ran the… More →
A fascinating history of this pivotal point in Spanish and European history, this is an important new look at the conquest of Granada The sultanate of Granada was the last bastion of Islamic rule… More →
This title features: dynamic two-colour layout for clear navigation; magazine style, combining stunning photography, itineraries and the authors' personal take on the country; extensive listings… More →
Between 1920 and 1934, Gerald Brenan lived in the remote Spanish village of Yegen and "South from Granada" depicts his time there, vividly evoking the essence of his rural surroundings and the… More →
In this masterly book, now in a revised and updated fourth edition, Michael Jacobs looks with fresh eyes at all the traditional delights of Andalucia while doing full justice to the lesser-known… More →
For long the subject was taboo. Now a new books throws fresh light on a forgotten war that raged in the 1940s and early 1950s in the mountains of Spain. Entitled Between Two Fires - Guerrilla war… More →
Manuel Cortes was a Socialist Party member, an activist in the peasant reform movement and an organizer in the farm worker's unionization struggles. He also became mayor of Mijas, where he was… More →
Gerald Howson went to Cadiz in Andalusia, Spain to learn Flamenco in the 50's. There the gaditanos (as the people from Cadiz are known) first regarded him as an oddity but gradually came to accept… More →
The Spanish are reputed to be amongst Europe's most voluble people. So why have they kept silent about the terrors of the Spanish Civil War and the rule of dictator Generalisimo Francisco Franco?… More →
Books about the history and culture of Andalucia: The Duchess of Rio Tinto by Martin Murphy, Granada, the seizure of the sultanate, Andalucia by Michael Pauls and Dana Facaros, South from Granada… More →
Mark Williams takes the reader through the history of Spain in a descriptive way, unravelling the history of what he portrays to be “Europe’s most fascinating country”. The first page introduces… More →
Lord Byron, Benjamin Disraeli, the Duke of Wellington, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Graves... they, and countless others, had one thing in common: they all visited Spain and had plenty… More →
The Alhambra palace complex is imposingly situated above the town of Granada, on the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada, southern Spain. It is the most important surviving medieval Islamic palace… More →
Andalucia is the quintessence of Spain and yet, historically and culturally, it is surprisingly unlike the rest of the country. Its literary history began to develop with the Romans and reached an… More →
As Islam and the West prepare to clash once again, Jason Webster embarks on a quest to discover Spain's hidden Moorish legacy and lift the lid on a country once forged by both Muslims and… More →
Soon after their arrival in Spain the authors realized that the early Muslim art of Seville was curiously different from that of Cordova. This fascinated them and they undertook eight years of… More →
The Alhambra, the 'red fort' on its rocky hill above Granada, with its fountained courts and gardens, and intricate decoration, has long been a byword for exotic and melancholy beauty. In a… More →
William Kirkpatrick of Málaga was a leading figure in the foreign community in Southern Spain between 1790 and 1830. US Consul, industrialist, and famously the grandfather of the Empress Eugénie… More →
It was 1934 and a young man walked to London from the security of the Cotswolds to make his fortune. He was to live by playing the violin and by labouring on a London building site. Then, knowing… More →
This book is the first published English-language translation of the significant "History of Islamic Spain" by Ibn al-Qutiyyah (d. Cordoba 367 / 977). Including extensive notes and comments, a… More →
The sierras of this book are the Serranía de Ronda merging with the Sierra de Grazalema and the highlands of the province of Cádiz. Author Alastair Boyd first came to the region in the late… More →
This title presents the story of the passion and intensity of Flamenco, the culture of a dance, the death of a legend...In 1992, the greatest Flamenco artist of all time died at the age of 41 as a… More →
"A Season in Granada" brings together poems, essays and excerpts from letters by the great twentieth-century poet Federico Garcia Lorca, including two sequences of poems and an essay previously… More →
A garden at the foot of Europe and a crossroads between Spain, Africa and the New World, Andalucía has been a cultural customs house on the border of the Mediterranean and Atlantic civilizations… More →
Some years have passed since eminent biologist and anthropologist Clive Finlayson graced the book list with his striking ornithological studies in the classic best-seller Birds of Iberia. He now… More →
Renowned writer and researcher Paco Sevilla, aware of the great wealth of flamenco knowledge available but inaccessible because of language barriers, sets out to produce a readable history around… More →
If your idea of a holiday is sitting on the beach all day, think again. In Search of Andalucía will inspire you to explore further and appreciate the history behind Spain's… More →
Culture
This is a new edition of an account of the contribution of the Gypsies of Andalucia to the development of flamenco. It provides a fuller explanation of some of the technical terms and a… More →
This title features: dynamic two-colour layout for clear navigation; magazine style, combining stunning photography, itineraries and the authors' personal take on the country; extensive listings… More →
Between 1920 and 1934, Gerald Brenan lived in the remote Spanish village of Yegen and "South from Granada" depicts his time there, vividly evoking the essence of his rural surroundings and the… More →
In this masterly book, now in a revised and updated fourth edition, Michael Jacobs looks with fresh eyes at all the traditional delights of Andalucia while doing full justice to the lesser-known… More →
Gerald Howson went to Cadiz in Andalusia, Spain to learn Flamenco in the 50's. There the gaditanos (as the people from Cadiz are known) first regarded him as an oddity but gradually came to accept… More →
Books about the history and culture of Andalucia: The Duchess of Rio Tinto by Martin Murphy, Granada, the seizure of the sultanate, Andalucia by Michael Pauls and Dana Facaros, South from Granada… More →
Chris Stewart's "Driving Over Lemons" told the story of his move to a remote mountain farm in Las Alpujarras. Find yourself laughing out loud as Chris is instructed by his daughter on local… More →
Perhaps if Joe and Vicky had known what relocating to a tiny village, tucked in the Alpujarra mountains, would really be like, they might have hesitated...
Lord Byron, Benjamin Disraeli, the Duke of Wellington, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Graves... they, and countless others, had one thing in common: they all visited Spain and had plenty… More →
Keidi Keating describes her life moving to the Costa del Sol and starting a magazine. A Fun-Filled Tale of a Modern Girl's Move to the Costa del Sol. Keidi Keating describes her life moving to the… More →
A phrase book by Liz Parry, together with an insight into Spanish customs. Do you know how to establish your turn in the queue to buy a loaf of bread? Or what to say when you answer the phone? Can… More →
Andalucia is the quintessence of Spain and yet, historically and culturally, it is surprisingly unlike the rest of the country. Its literary history began to develop with the Romans and reached an… More →
As Islam and the West prepare to clash once again, Jason Webster embarks on a quest to discover Spain's hidden Moorish legacy and lift the lid on a country once forged by both Muslims and… More →
First published by Heinemann in 1904, this is one of Somerset Maugham's lesser known works. It is, nevertheless, a perceptive account of his travels through Andalucia in the early part of the 20th… More →
Paris in the twenties: Pernod, parties and expatriate Americans, loose-living on money from home. Paris in the twenties: Pernod, parties and expatriate Americans, loose-living on money from home… More →
Maggots, Mothers and Misdemeanours. Celia's 88-year-old mother's body was found in her home five days after her death - and in the summer heat of southern Andalucia. Offspring from several… More →
Get to the heart of Andalucia with Footprint's critically acclaimed, fully revised and updated 7th edition guide. Taking you through gleaming hill-top towns and on to quiet windswept beaches,… More →
Why is the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona football clubs so fierce? Are Spaniards losing interest in bullfighting? How Catholic is Spain today? Do Spaniards resent foreign residents?… More →
When my neighbour Caridad crashed through the front door, crying "What an opportunity! There's a bus trip to Córdoba. You can't miss a chance like this", I had no difficulty turning it down.
… More →"Speak the Culture: Spain" picks at the surface to uncover the key events, themes and people that have shaped the nation, from green Galicia to dusty Andalucia.
This book is the first published English-language translation of the significant "History of Islamic Spain" by Ibn al-Qutiyyah (d. Cordoba 367 / 977). Including extensive notes and comments, a… More →
The sierras of this book are the Serranía de Ronda merging with the Sierra de Grazalema and the highlands of the province of Cádiz. Author Alastair Boyd first came to the region in the late… More →
The new full-colour "Rough Guide to Andalucia" is the essential guide to one of Europe's most vibrant destinations. The autonomous region of Andalucia is the part of the Iberian Peninsula that is… More →
With a compelling sureness of touch, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Frederic V. Grunfeld offers the reader an intimate knowledge of Spain gained over twenty-five years. He takes the intending… More →
Translated by Gloria Garcia Lorca, the writer's niece, and Jane Duran, the family friend who became a celebrated poet, Gypsy Ballads is the most authentic version of Romancero Gitano imaginable.… More →
English author and music journalist Tony Bryant is about to release a new revised edition of his book, Flamenco; an Englishman's passion. The book, which was first released in 2006, is to, again,… More →
A garden at the foot of Europe and a crossroads between Spain, Africa and the New World, Andalucía has been a cultural customs house on the border of the Mediterranean and Atlantic civilizations… More →
Some years have passed since eminent biologist and anthropologist Clive Finlayson graced the book list with his striking ornithological studies in the classic best-seller Birds of Iberia. He now… More →
This information-packed new sister title to Santana's 2003 classic Finca is the result of sixteen years' owning and farming a small-holding in Andalucía. As authoress, Sandy Walker stresses, the… More →
Penelope Chetwode's sole companion on her ride over the disused mule tracks and goat paths in the wilds of Andalusia in 1961 was the twelve-year-old bay mare, La Marquesa. This treasured animal,… More →