I'm rereading Michener's "Iberia." It is extremely dated, 1968 I believe, and yet it has a lot of good history in it. I remember the first time I bought a copy was at the bookstore at Torrejon Air Force Base.

Has anyone read any other books of this caliper concerning Spain? I'm between books and dying for a good book about Spain right now.

Hi Gazpacho--

I loved Iberia. In fact, it was recommended reading for my parents before they came to visit me.

I am currently reading The New Spaniards . This book is much more about contemporary Spain from the dictatorship to "present" (I think 2000 or 2001).

I also read The Drifters several years ago by Michener. It was a book about the experiences of young travelers throughout the south of Spain and North Africa.

Thanks Chica,

I've read "The New Spaniards" and it was a good book too. Still a little outdated but a lot more recently written than "Iberia."

I'm looking for more of a traveller's book.

I'll paste below some descriptions of books I've written for something else. The first, Travelers' Tales, is my absolute favorite and I highly recommend it. You can find it easily in bookstores in the guidebook section - though it's not really a quidebook.

Travelers' Tales Guides Spain: True Stories of Life on the Road, collected and edited by Lucy McCauley. This is my favorite book about Spain. It's a wonderful collection of writings from many, many people, about many, many aspects of Spanish life.

A Romantic in Spain, by Theophile Gautier. Originally published in French in 1845, this is a narrative describing Gautier's travels through Spain just a few years earlier. I haven't read the whole book yet, but I'm looking forward to it. A book like this doesn't describe the political and international situation in Spain now, but offers what I find to be a fascinating look at Spain and Spaniards in the past, with a freshness that makes it seem like the present.

Tales of the Alhambra, by Washington Irving. This is another book describing Spain a long time ago - in 1829, to be exact, when the American Washington Irving traveled through Andalucia, avoiding bandits and collecting marvelous stories about the Moors. I also find it fascinating to read accounts of Spaniards so long ago. The Spanish character has changed little!

Spain: The Best Travel Writing from the New York Times by Katharine Lee Bates, Rachel Billington, Olivier Bernier, Malcolm Bradbury, Anthony Burgess, Penelope Casas, Joan Gould, Benjamin Jones, Barbara Kingsolver, James M. Markham, Deborah Mason, Michael Mewshaw. This looks like a great coffee table book that's also fascinating to read.

Off the Road: A Modern Day Walk Along the Pilgrimage Route into Spain, by Jack Hitt. Here's a more recently written book (1994). This is filled with the reflections of a modern-day young American man in Spain.

One very interesting point about Washington Irving...he was the United States first Ambassador to Spain and was considered, by many, to be the first American "hispanist" of the US. This is why he knew so much about Spain.

Sheryl

One very interesting point about Washington Irving...he was the United States first Ambassador to Spain and was considered, by many, to be the first American "hispanist" of the US. This is why he knew so much about Spain...and loved it so.

Sheryl

Hola Gazpacho,

Here are a few that I have recently read and would recommend. They are all travel books that focus on a specific type of travel.

I highly recommend the following books:
#1
Don Quixote's Delusions: Travels in Castilian Spain by Miranda France

Here is a review:
#2
If you want a book about visiting out of the way places, I would recommend this title, it is a reprint ...
Journey to the Alcarria Travels Through the Spanish Countryside. Reprint (Traveler) (Paperback)
by Camilo Jose Cela

An engaging book by the Nobel prize winner Camilo Jose Cela, a rural romp. "Covers his travels around the Alcarria, an area in New Castile, NE of Madrid sorrounding most of the Guadalajara province. Cela wanders from village to village and writes about a world most tourists don't visit.

A good read if you like travel reportage. I liked it!

#3
If you like visiting gardens, then this is a good travel book for you.

Hidden Gardens Of Spain by Eduardo Mencos
"With 250 color photographs the author escorts us from Galician to Granada, Barcelona to the Balearics, Catalonia and the Canaries, Madrid and Mallorca. Many of the gardens are drenched in that country's history, reflecting the influences of the Romans, Moors, and Europeans. Other gardens were created and are tended by their current owners, still others came to life through the talents of respected garden designers, such as Luis Gonzales-Camino and Arabella Lennox-Boyd. Mr. Mencos was allowed unprecedented access to private gardens, and his views of the Alhambra are spectacular."

#4
A friend gave me this book a couple of years age, and I love it!
Historical Paradors: A Journey Through Spanish Hotels (Hardcover) by Juan Eslara Galan.
Spain is presented to us through a tour of its most beautiful Paradors, important and historical buildings turned into exclusive hotels.
Here is a review by MM!
Hope this helps!
Carmen

If you enjoy the Michener book you might also be interested in "The Last Serious Thing" by Bruce Scheonfeld. He is an American sportswriter who tried his hand at bullfight journalism during the Sevilla Feria of 1988.

His stories roughly parallel the "Sevilla" and "The Bulls" chapters of "Iberia". There are updates on the stories of American Matador John Fulton, photographer Robert Vavra and the never ending quest (as of 1988) of Curro Romero to find the perfect bull.

I was able to purchase it used on Amazon.com for less than $2. (The shipping was $3! )

Thanks Diana, Sheryl, Booklady, Mongo and Chica,

It seems I asked the right question and hit the jackpot. Time to head over to Amazon or Half or Barnes & Noble. I should be through with "Iberia" again before they arrive.

Mongo, I'm not as enthusiastic about bullfighting as Michener was, but I have nothing against it. Heck, once I saw cockfighting in the Philippines I didn't think it was all that cruel. And I would like to know how Fulton and Vavra turned out. I must have lived over there when the two were around, but I hadn't heard of them then.

Next time I go, I want to spend a few nights in some paradors, in Avila, Burgos and/or Santiago. Won't be until around 2008 I'm afraid.

When I first moved to Spain I was frustrated how little I knew about the history of the country. I found The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe's Most Fascinating Country by Mark R. Williams in FNAC and found it to be an excellent introduction to the history of Spain. Enough detail to be hold informed discussions and decide where and when I wanted to visit certain places, yet not too detailed or hard going. Highly recommended by me.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970696922/