Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country’s Hidden Past – Giles Tremlett

The New Spaniards   Book review by Marbella, with our thanks: “…I found it quite uncomfortable reading at times. If anyone remembers the initiation ceremony in the Richard Harris film, A Man Called Horse? Well, if you still love Spain/the Spanish after reading some parts of this book then you’ll see what I mean by the analogy. I passed the test but it wasn’t easy.

It is a real rollercoaster ride through the civil war, ETA, catalanismo, drugs, tourism, corruption, flamenco…the list goes on. Giles Tremlett has an easy going, quite punchy style which made the coverage of so many subject areas achievable. I’m not sure if it is a good or bad thing that after reading it I have more questions than answers.

Before reading this book, I thought that Spaniards were being shifty in not confronting their past in relation to the civil war. I think now that if Spaniards want to forget then outsiders (like me, like Tremlett by his own admission) should let them do so.”
Pick up a copy at:
Amazon.co.uk (Europe)

4 thoughts on “Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country’s Hidden Past – Giles Tremlett”

  1. Jan

    We borrowed this book of a friend and tried to read it through, but it was too high a mountain for me to climb and even my husband, who usually devours history books, found it very hard going and gave up before the end.

  2. Dave

    I was pleased to find this at the library and found it to be riveting. It does get a bit wordy an a few places, but I found Giles writing to be so lucid and readible that I really didn’t mind it. This was a book that I was sad to finish, because it was so engaging. It is truly packed with information I have not found anywhere else. If you are interested in Spain, you will love this book. I am going to buy a copy (so I can mark the margins) and read it again. My highest recommendations. (The New York Times also did a good review that would be worth googling if you want more info).

  3. EJL

    This is one of the best books on Spain I have read much better than the Jason Webster’s look at the civil war “Guerra”.

    Page 327 sounds spookily familiar though- ” A love story gone wrong had brought me here. Recently finished at university, I had planned to move to Madrid with a girlfriend……But a few weeks before we were due to leave, we split up. I chose Barcelona for a reason that I would discover, was one of its defining characteristics. It was not Madrid.”

  4. Erika

    A great book, well investigated and presenting both/more sides of the story. Focuses on very Spanish things and on things foreigners (guiries) think of as Spanish.
    A must book for anyone who wants to understand more about Spain, however not as a first contact with the country.

Comments are closed.