of a world power, 1500-1700 / Henry Kamen -- Flow and Ebb, 1700-1833 / Richard Herr -- Liberalism and reaction, 1833-1931 / Raymond Carr -- Spain from 1931 to the present / Sebastian Balfour.

Sir Raymond Carr is one of the world's leading authorities on the history of Spain. In Spain: A History, he and eight other leading scholars--including Sebastian Balfour and Felipe Fernandez-Armesto--provide an authoritative overview of a country that has played a vital role in the history of the Western world. Here is an up-to-date and engaging tour of Spain through the ages. We read of prehistoric Spain and of the imposition of Roman rule, which created the idea of Hispania as a single entity. There are knowledgeable discussions of the Visigoth monarchy, Moorish Spain, the establishment of an empire, and the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, all of which not only chart the political and economic development of Spain, but also examine the extraordinary artistic and literary achievements of the Spanish people. We read of the rise of liberalism in the nineteenth century, and of its fall, which ushered in a period of political instability culminating in the Civil War and authoritarian rule. The book concludes with a look at modern Spain as a fully integrated and enthusiastic member of the European community. Attractively illustrated with eight pages of color plates and twenty-four black-and-white plates, Spain: A History is the best historical account of Spain currently available for general readers.