Trained in combat since he was a youth, and taught the dark arts of war by a brilliant ex-monk, he is determined to prove wrong those who say he is unfit for command. As he follows the trail of devastation left by the raiders, he discovers that Valentina, his half-brother's betrothed, has been taken captive. The mission that he has viewed merely as an adventure now turns into a personal quest to save the headstrong daughter of his father's closest ally from the slave markets of Arabia.In the capital of Toledo, the sudden death of the monarch unravels old alliances, sparking a fierce competition for the throne. As the country descends into civil war, Musa ibn Nosseyr, Caliph al-Walid's ambitious governor in Carthage, sees the Iberian nation's troubles as an opportunity to expand the reach of the caliphate into Europe.

    This is the story of a time when brother fought brother and Christian fought Christian. Power was all and Spain was riven by strife which was political, religious and familial! One man came from the harsh land of Castile to make one land and one state. Spain truly began with Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, El Campeador, El Cid. His story is told through the eyes of the warrior who spent his life at his side. William Redbeard came from humble origins but he was destined for greatness too as he walked in the seemingly endless shadow of El Cid. This first instalment in the Chronicles tells of Rodrigo’s rise to prominence when he became the champion of Prince Sancho of Castile. This is but the beginning of a tale which still stirs the blood a millennium after it began.

    A wonderful read.' - Kevin Hand, BBC London. You’re in Greece and are given a €20 note with an email address scribbled on it. What would you do:1. Spend it? 2. Slip the suspect counterfeit bill into an enemy’s birthday card?3. Send an email, hoping it will lead to you finding everlasting love? Brad, a hopeless romantic, chose the latter.Two years later, his love life remains a disaster and his career is misfiring. As he’s about to walk Spain’s fabled Camino de Santiago to ponder some profound life changes, Brad receives a reply. Incredibly, it’s from a woman who lives on the 1000-year-old pilgrim path, far away from where the money first crossed his palm. She invites him to sleep… ‘on her house’. Hiking nine hundred kilometres on the Road to Santiago to a blind date with the mystery €20 woman, he discovers the utopia of his fantasies, befriends a Hungarian who speaks English in song titles and has his raison d’être revealed to him by a barefoot Mayan mystic. Will he meet his happily-ever-after too? Buy this pacy, exuberant, laugh-out-loud travelogue laced with tips for fellow pilgrims to find out...

    Nearing the end of a long and tumultuous life, he’s overcome by hallucinatory memories of the past. Among his most cherished memories are those of his boyhood in 1950s Franco-era Spain and the bucolic afternoons he spent salmon fishing on the Sella River with his father, uncle, and much-loved younger brother. But these fond reveries are soon eclipsed by something greater. José’s regrets and dark family secrets are flooding back, as is the devastating tragedy that drove José into exile and makes him bear the burden of a soul-deep guilt.Now, as his three estranged sons return to their father’s side, José hopes to outpace death long enough to finally put his house in order and exorcise its demons. Only in his quest for redemption can José begin to understand the meaning of his life—and what his legacy has meant to others.

    Eight years ago, her brother disappeared while fighting alongside Gypsy partisans in Spain. From his letters, Rose has just two clues to his whereabouts—his descriptions of the spectacular south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and his love for a woman who was carrying his child.In Spain, it has been eight years since Lola Aragon’s family was massacred. Eight years since she rescued a newborn girl from the arms of her dying mother and ran for her life. She has always believed that nothing could make her return…until a plea for help comes from a desperate stranger.Now, Rose, Lola, and the child set out on a journey from the wild marshes of the Camargue to the dazzling peaks of Spain’s ancient mountain communities. As they come face-to-face with war’s darkest truths, their lives will be changed forever by memories, secrets, and friendships.

    But the elusive nature of the man (despite an abundance of documentation), his relentless travel and the control of his own image, together with the complexity of governing the world’s first transatlantic empire, complicate the task. Geoffrey Parker, one of the world’s leading historians of early modern Europe, has examined the surviving written sources in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Latin, and Spanish, as well as visual and material evidence. He explores the crucial decisions that created and preserved this vast empire, analyzes Charles’s achievements within the context of both personal and structural factors, and scrutinizes the intimate details of the ruler's life for clues to his character and inclinations. The result is a unique biography that interrogates every dimension of Charles’s reign and views the world through the emperor’s own eyes.

     When Jack Waldie and his wife Nicola buy a house in rural Spain they intend to start a new life there, away from the hustle and bustle of Glasgow, but when things go awry between them Jack chooses to keep the spacious old place and moves there to write his crime novels in peace. In the small village in an area known as Spanish Lapland, due to its ever decreasing population, Jack befriends key local people who refuse to allow their birthplace to die. When he’s persuaded to look for a lodger in order to further their aims, the scene is set for a far more eventful summer than he anticipated.

    When she is asked by Mateo Mendoza, heir to a huge Spanish estate, to fly to Madrid to help resolve an issue in his father's will, she's confident it will be straightforward. The timing isn't great as Charlotte's due to get married the following week, but once her client signs on the dotted line, Charlotte can return to her life in London and her wedding, and live happily ever after. Marrying Stephen might not fill her with excitement, but she doesn't want to live in the fast lane anymore - safe and predictable is good.But Carlos Mendoza's final bequest opens up a generation of secrets, and Charlotte finds herself compelled to unravel the mystery. As Charlotte digs deeper, she uncovers the story of a family divided by Spain's Civil War, and of a love affair across the battle lines that ended in tragedy.And while she is consumed in the drama of the Mendozas, Charlotte's own tragic past catches up with her, threatening to overturn everything in her life she's worked so hard to build.

    Alone in the devastated city of Málaga she makes friends with two young men, Juan, an idealistic Spaniard and Alex, a pragmatic Englishman. Together they make their escape from the war-torn city along the coast to Almeria. Amongst the death and carnage she falls in love with Juan, only to lose him shortly afterwards when he is badly wounded. Believing he is dead she returns to England with Alex, whom she later marries.Seventy years later Kate, Elizabeth´s granddaughter, is left a legacy following the death of her grandfather, a legacy that opens a Pandora´s box of secrets and lies which Kate can only unravel by returning to Spain.

    Her glorified image of life abroad is crushed as she battles rogue tradesmen and vicious local wildlife.From stalking a neighbour to encountering trees with testicles, will she weather the storms of expat life or wish she had never left the UK?A Kiss Behind the Castanets is the first instalment of Jean Roberts's lighthearted and uplifting tale in her Moving to Spain series.Perfect for fans of Victoria Twead, Chris Stewart, and Alan Parks.

    A gripping narrative history of Spain’s most brilliant and troubled literary family—a tale about the making of art, myth, and legacy—set against the upheaval of the Spanish Civil War and beyondIn this absorbing and atmospheric historical narrative, journalist Aaron Shulman takes us deeply into the circumstances surrounding the Spanish Civil War through the lives, loves, and poetry of the Paneros, Spain’s most compelling and eccentric family, whose lives intersected memorably with many of the most storied figures in the art, literature, and politics of the time—from Neruda to Salvador Dalí, from Ava Gardner to Pablo Picasso to Roberto Bolaño.Weaving memoir with cultural history and biography, and brought together with vivid storytelling and striking images, The Age of Disenchantments sheds new light on the romance and intellectual ferment of the era while revealing the profound and enduring devastation of the war, the Franco dictatorship, and the country’s transition to democracy.A searing tale of love and hatred, art and ambition, and freedom and oppression, The Age of Disenchantments is a chronicle of a family who modeled their lives (and deaths) on the works of art that most inspired and obsessed them and who, in turn, profoundly affected the culture and society around them.

    Now, years later, they have grown apart. When Amy discovers her husband has been stealing from her successful interiors business, and with a milestone birthday looming, she decides it is the time to reach out to her old friends once again. So, she decides to invite the other three to her beautiful villa in Mallorca for a reunion weekend. As the four friends gather, secrets are unearthed, old scores settled and new friendships forged. Will this holiday bring them together or tear them apart? And will each of them grasp their second chance for happiness...?

    From a near-death experience and roadside sex stalls to bizarre Gaudí architecture and quirky, rural accommodation, will the trip deliver more than they anticipate, or will the torrential rain and gale-force winds send them scurrying home before completing their journey? Perfect for fans of Bill Bryson, Ted Simon’s Jupiter’s Travels and Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s The Long Way Round and The Long Way Down.

    Throughout the country's history only one system of government has ever enjoyed any real success: dictatorship and the use of violence.Violence, in fact, is what Spain is made of, lying at the heart of its culture and identity, far more so than any other western European nation. For well over a thousand years, the country has only ever been forged and then been held together through the use of aggression - brutal, merciless terror and warfare directed against its own people. Without it the country breaks apart and Spain ceases to exist - a fact that recent events in Barcelona confirm. Authoritarianism is the Spanish default setting.Yet Spain has produced many of the most important artists and thinkers in the Western world, from Cervantes, author of the first modern novel, to Goya, the first modern painter. Much of Western artistic expression, in fact, from the Picaresque to Cubism, would be unthinkable without the Spanish contribution. This unique national genius, however, does not exist despite Spain's violent backdrop; it is, in fact, born out of it. Indeed Spain's genius and violent nature go hand in hand, locked together in a macabre, elaborate dance. This is the country's tragedy.La Violencia unveils this truth for the first time, exposing the bloody heart of Spain - from its origins in the ancient past to the Civil War and the current crisis in Catalonia. La Violencia will be in the tradition of those books which come to define our understanding of a country.

    First published in 1965 and written while the apparitions were still occurring, Sanchez Ventura’s vividly detailed account of his own direct observations and those of the other first hand witnesses he interviewed, is the most authoritative on this subject. If you want to know what really happened at Garabandal — this is the one book you need to read.Author, Francisco Sanchez-Ventura y Pascual was a highly respected Spanish attorney, economics Professor, award-winning novelist, personal counselor to Spanish royalty, and founder of various businesses. However, above all Francisco was a warrior for the Virgin Mary. He founded the magazine Maria Mensajera (Mary Messenger), directed numerous courses specializing in Mariology and published more than 50 books — most of them investigative studies into mystical phenomena and Marian apparitions. He died June 13, 2007.

    Capital and country were reeling from a series of economic shocks that had brought Spain to the brink of ruin. The housing boom had dramatically turned to bust, a large chunk of the nation's banking system was in state hands, businesses were closing across the country, debt was spiralling out of control and unemployment levels had reached a record high.AFTER THE FALL presents a rich and vivid portrait of contemporary Spain at a critical moment in the country's history. The book tells the story of Spain's long boom and sudden bust, the brutal economic crisis that followed, and the political and social aftershocks that reverberate to this day. It explores the origins of the separatist movement in Catalonia, and its bitter clash with the Spanish government that culminated in a failed secession referendum and a divisive declaration of independence. It looks at the legacy of the Civil War and Franco dictatorship, and the continuing struggle over historical memory in Spain today. Based on five years of reporting and hundreds of interviews, AFTER THE FALL takes the reader from the offices of power in Madrid and Barcelona to the villages of the Basque country, still haunted by the memory of political violence, and to the towns of Andalusia, where an entire generation has seen its economic hopes shattered. It describes how the country has been changed by the experience of migration, and why - after decades at the margins - the far-right eventually made a return to Spanish politics. For all the problems and challenges facing Spain today, we see that amid the ruins of the crisis, the search for a new Spanish model is already underway.

    Enchanted with effortlessly stylish bars and colourful buildings, this is a charismatic metropolis doused in the endless sun of southern Spain. The city is also home to two historic institutions of Spanish football - Real Betis and Sevilla - and when they go head-to-head to contest El Gran Derbi, the rest of Spain can only watch in awe. This is a pulsating and arresting experience which encapsulates the beautiful game in all its raw, spellbinding brilliance. Spanish football is more than Barcelona and Real Madrid. Much more. The city contrasts uptown Sevilla with downtown Betis. Los Rojiblancos pitted against Los Verdiblancos. Sevillistas and Beticos. Nothing can compare to this beautiful city and the crazy passion for football that it produces, either in Spain or Europe. Colin Millar - who made the city his home - charts the illustrious histories of football in the city and explores how both clubs represent a way of life for Sevillanos.

    It was so enjoyable they all vowed to come back for the following season.In April 1977, Fred returned to Ibiza, alone, in pursuit of his dream.Behind him, he left his family, his girlfriend, and a promising career in banking.Challenges lay ahead.This would be no holiday.He needed a place to stay and to find work that would sustain him through the next six months.This true to life memoir follows 21-year-old Fred’s adventures as he acclimatises to living abroad. In a time before instant communication, he keeps in touch with family and friends by letter. They are his lifeline to home.If you enjoy reading about people’s life-changing experiences, then this book is for you.Get it now.

    This sumptuously illustrated book traces Sorolla’s career at home and abroad, focusing on more than 60 canvases. These include portraits, landscapes, the bathers and seascapes for which he is most famous, and genre scenes of Spanish life.   His monumental early works established the artist’s reputation as an unflinching social realist. Sending pictures strategically to major exhibitions across Europe, Sorolla depicted peasants, fishermen, and sail-makers eking out meager existences; young women forced into prostitution; and naked, disabled orphans. Rarely had Impressionist technique been turned to such provocative ends. As Sorolla found a wealthy clientele toward the turn of the century, his focus turned to sun-drenched scenes of leisure and elegant sociability: beautiful women stroll in fashionable resorts and children gambol on the seashore.  Here, leading scholars offer a contemporary assessment of his career and explore Sorolla’s relations with the most famous bravura painters of the day, including John Singer Sargent and the Swedish artist Anders Zorn. An illustrated chronology by Blanca Pons Sorolla, the artist’s great-granddaughter, provides additional information.

    It is not a journey for the faint of heart or the soft of foot. People embark on the five-hundred mile, thirty-one day trek from the Pyrenees Mountains in France to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain for all sorts of reasons--religious, spiritual, physical, and personal. For author Kenneth R. Strange Jr. and his wife, Aurora, walking the Camino is about adventure and a lifelong love of Spain, both of which shine through in "It's Your Camino.""Reliving their journey in "It's Your Camino" is an inspiration, a joy and a must read!" -- Martin Sheen, actor in the movie "The Way."

    These artists represent two different models of creators whose personality, recognition, and life story played a decisive role in blazing new trails for subsequent female painters to follow. They were both born in Italy, an environment that was advantageous to women’s art and where there was furthermore considerable concern throughout the sixteenth century with dignifying and educating women in settings other than convents, the main centres for their cultural enrichment and artistic development since the Middle Ages. Likewise, they both received essential encouragement from their fathers, who viewed their daughters’ artistic talent as a source of family livelihood.This catalogue analyses the features common to both women as well as the differences stemming from their social backgrounds. The early fame achieved by the noble-born Sofonisba Anguissola as a painter infused women’s practice of the art with dignity and led to her appointment as lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabel de Valois, though her post at the Spanish court conditioned and constrained her artistic career. Back in Italy, her long, eventful life was accompanied by a recognition that has lasted until the present, earning her mythical status. Lavinia Fontana’s life story is more in keeping with that of other female artists: she trained with her father, a prominent painter, who helped her become the first professional woman artist with a workshop of her own.

    Traditionally served as a bar snack with a glass of sherry or a cold beer, tapas has become a firm favorite thanks to its wide variety and versatility. Whether you are serving an appetizer before a meal, enjoying some small bites with drinks, or going all out and filling the table with multiple dishes to feast on, there is no bad time to indulge in these flavor-filled dishes. This book includes all the classics from the perennially popular Patatas Bravas and Spanish Omelette to Chorizo in Red Wine and Peppers Stuffed with Salt Cod. Many of these dishes can be made in advance for ease, so you too can enjoy time with your friends—Buen Provecho!

    As Jews everywhere rejected the traditional laws of Judaism in favor of new norms established by Sabbetai Zevi, and abandoned reason for the ecstasy of messianic enthusiasm, one man watched in horror. Dissident Rabbi tells the story of Jacob Sasportas, the Sephardic rabbi who alone challenged Sabbetai Zevi's improbable claims and warned his fellow Jews that their Messiah was not the answer to their prayers.Yaacob Dweck's absorbing and richly detailed biography brings to life the tumultuous century in which Sasportas lived, an age torn apart by war, migration, and famine. He describes the messianic frenzy that gripped the Jewish Diaspora, and Sasportas's attempts to make sense of a world that Sabbetai Zevi claimed was ending. As Jews danced in the streets, Sasportas compiled The Fading Flower of the Zevi, a meticulous and eloquent record of Sabbatianism as it happened. In 1666, barely a year after Sabbetai Zevi heralded the redemption, the Messiah converted to Islam at the behest of the Ottoman sultan, and Sasportas's book slipped into obscurity.Dissident Rabbi is the revelatory account of a spiritual leader who dared to articulate the value of rabbinic doubt in the face of messianic certainty, and a revealing examination of how his life and legacy were rediscovered and appropriated by later generations of Jewish thinkers.

    Its literary tradition has always been deeply ingrained in the city's history and poets and writers continue to hold court in the city's literary salons. Jules Stewart guides the reader on a colourful journey through more than 400 years of literary and intellectual life, centred mostly in the Barrio de las Letras, and brings to life the people and places, vivid anecdotes and rich historical detail that made Madrid the heart of literary Spain.

    She is a certified olive oil sommelier and travels around the world to taste, judge and give masterclasses to professional chefs. She is also the head buyer for the international chain of stores, Oil & Vinegar.

    Can she bring him back alive?1480. Orphaned and grieving, young Elena of Arazas navigates the wild Pyrenees like a bird in flight. Dispensing herbal remedies in remote mountain villages, she develops a reputation as an aloof loner.Everything changes when she befriends a boy named Martín. With his family's permission, the pair sets off on a gathering trip in the high country.But when Elena leaves Martín's side in pursuit of a valuable plant, he is ambushed by a hunting party from a baron's castle.Frantic, Elena summons every scrap of her courage in a desperate bid to bring him back alive. Will her risky plan save Martín—or kill them both?A tale of survival, grit, and ingenuity, the Memory Keeper concludes a collection of short fiction about beloved characters in the Miramonde Series. The Miramonde Series trilogy tells the mesmerizing story of a Mira, a Renaissance-era female artist, and Zari, the modern-day scholar on her trail. Two strong women separated by centuries, but linked by a terrible secret. Praise for The Girl from Oto: (Book 1) “An exquisite novel.” —Martha Conway, author of Thieving ForestPraise for Mira's Way: (Book 2) "A story that grips from start to finish." —Historical Novel SocietyPraise for A Place in the World: (Book 3) "Luxuriantly detailed...addictive to the extreme." —The Coffee Pot Book ClubA powerful saga of obsession, art, intrigue, and romance, the Miramonde Series combines lush history with unforgettable characters who will stay with you long after you turn the last page. Discover the Miramonde Series today...and be transported.

    Adopting a comparative perspective, it considers the impact of early globalization on Iberian and Western European institutions, social development and political economies. In spite of globalization’s minor importance from the commercial perspective before 1750, this book finds its impact decisive for institutional development, political economies, and processes of state-building in Iberia and Europe.  The book engages current historiographies and revindicates the need to take the concept of composite monarchies as a point of departure in order to understand the period’s economic and social developments, analysing the institutions and societies resulting from contact with Iberian peoples in America and Asia.  The outcome is a study that nuances and contests an excessively-negative yet prevalent image of the Iberian societies, explores the difficult relationship between empires and globalization and opens paths for comparisons to other imperial formations.

    Can she lead it out of ruin? When young nun Béatrice is chosen as abbess of a remote mountain convent, her dreams of power and prestige vanish as soon as she walks through its crumbling gates. Still haunted by a wave of plague that ravaged the area a generation ago, the Abbey of Belarac teeters on the brink of ruin. Grappling with poachers, ruthless noble neighbors, and the approach of winter, Béatrice struggles to lead the abbey toward a brighter future. By striking a bargain with an untrustworthy local man, she eases her financial worries—until the horrifying day when catastrophe strikes.  Will Béatrice find the courage to save the abbey and its people before winter descends? A Bold Beginning is the second in a collection of stories about key characters in the Miramonde Series, a trilogy that tells the mesmerizing tale of a Renaissance-era female artist and the young scholar on her trail. Book 1, The Girl from Oto, was hailed as “an exquisite novel” by author Martha Conway. Book 2, Mira’s Way, “grips from start to finish,” according to the Historical Novel Society. And the Coffee Pot Book Club calls A Place in the World (Book 3) “brilliantly executed and masterfully written.” Discover the heart-pounding action and rich historical detail of the Miramonde Series today!

    First is Antoine Gimenez’s Memories of the War in Spain, a compelling and lyrical account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War. The other is In Search of the Sons of Night by the Gimenologues, a group of friends who became historians over the twelve-year adventure of publishing Gimenez’s memoir. The second book, a profoundly innovative form of historiography, records the fascination Gimenez’s account held for the group and the many branching paths of inquiry it led them down. The latter begins with eighty-two "endnotes" to the memoir, each the equivalent of a chapter that follows a particular historical thread or explores a question raised by Gimenez's text. This is followed by the biographies of various people appearing in the memoir, many based on the friendships the historians formed with the now-elderly revolutionaries. The book closes with an Afterword discussing theoretical issues raised by the memoir and seven appendices. It also includes a foreword by Dolors Marín Silvestre.

    In late 1596, a ship carrying the plague docked in Santander, and over the next five years the disease killed some 500,000 people in Castile, around 10 percent of the population. Plague is traditionally understood to have triggered chaos and madness. By contrast, Ruth Mackay focuses on the sites of everyday life, exploring how beliefs, practices, laws, and relationships endured even under the onslaught of disease. She takes an original and holistic approach to understanding the impact of plague, and explores how the epidemic was understood and managed by everyday people. Offering a fresh perspective on the social, political, and economic history of Spain, this original and engaging book demonstrates how, even in the midst of chaos, life carried on.

    Instead the author, uncovers the real heartland where the next future waves of tourism could well be.Brett Hetherington is a long-time Spanish resident and journalist.