Synopses & Reviews
From bloodthirsty conquest to exotic romance, stereotypes of Spain abound. This new volume by distinguished historian Stanley G. Payne draws on his half-century of experience to offer a balanced, broadly chronological survey of Spanish history from the Visigoths to the present. Who were the first “Spaniards”? Is Spain a fully Western country? Was Spanish liberalism a failure? Examining Spain’s unique role in the larger history of Western Europe, Payne reinterprets key aspects of the country’s history.
Topics include Muslim culture in the peninsula, the Spanish monarchy, the empire, and the relationship between Spain and Portugal. Turning to the twentieth century, Payne discusses the Second Republic and the Spanish Civil War. The book’s final chapters focus on the Franco regime, the nature of Spanish fascism, and the special role of the military. Analyzing the figure of Franco himself, Payne seeks to explain why some Spaniards still regard him with respect, while many others view the late dictator with profound loathing.
Framed by reflections on the author’s own formation as a Hispanist and his evaluation of the controversy about “historical memory” in contemporary Spain, this volume offers deeply informed insights into both the history and the historiography of a unique country.
Review
"Anyone seeking a guide to thinking about the history and essential characteristics of fascism could do no better than read Stanley G. Paynes invaluable book, A History of Fascism, 1914-1945, which is likely to be the definitive study of its subject for a considerable time." John Gray, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"A History of Fascism is an invaluable sourcebook, offering a rare combination of detailed information and thoughtful analysis. It is a masterpiece of comparative history, for the comparisons enhance our understanding of each part of the whole. The term fascist, used so freely these days as a pejorative epithet that has nearly lost its meaning, is precisely defined, carefully applied and skillfully explained. The analysis effectively restores the dimension of evil." Susan Zuccotti, The Nation
Review
"Concise, engaging, and above all scholarly, this volume offers a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of Spanish history." Julius Ruiz, author of Franco's Justice
Review
"Payne's revivalist presentation of a broad continuity of Spain's history, centered on its Castilian heartland, unfailingly maintains the standards of balance and objectivity that have always been the
Review
"An excellent, balanced discussion of important controversies." Juan Linz, author of Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes
Review
andldquo;Beginning with an informative account of his andlsquo;formationandrsquo; as a Hispanist, Payne addresses critical questions in Spanish history, e.g., the role of Islam, alleged decline and decadence, empire, and interpretations of liberalism. Following is a substantial examination and analysis of what Payne labels andlsquo;dilemmas of contemporary history,andrsquo; uncommonly valuable as a succinct discussion of major developments since the 1930a, including the origins of the Spanish Civil War. For each of these, Payne reviews and challenges many familiar accounts. Thoughtful yet provocative;and#160; indispensable reading for everyone.andrdquo;andmdash;CHOICE
Review
andldquo;Through a critical and distinctive lens of erudition, Payne is able to offer the reader a rational assessment of the various perpetuating stereotypes, including the sixteenth and seventeenth centuriesandrsquo; Black Legend, negativity imposed on the Spanish political milieu of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; the romantic Spain of the nineteenth century; and, what Payne terms, a andlsquo;composite stereotype of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.andrsquo;andrdquo;andmdash;Paulette L. Pepin,
HistorianReview
“[Stanley Payne is] America’s most prolific historian of Spain.” —Paul Preston,
New York Times Book ReviewReview
“Payne’s scope in this book is very impressive. The totality of the political and social struggle during this period is his greatest success—the Second Republic as a process.” —Robert Kern, University of New Mexico
Review
and#8220;A personal and accessible narrative that tells a remarkable story yet is grounded in solid scholarship.and#8221;and#8212;Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, Sephardic Educational Center
Review
and#8220;With a broad scope that will appeal to a wide readership, this work will be useful as a comprehensive resource on the history of the Spanish Jews.and#8221;and#8212;Gregory B. Kaplan, author of Marginal Voices: Studies in Converso Literature of Medieval and Golden Age Spain
Review
and#8220;A lucid, readable summary . . . that brings the key personalities to life and explores the intricate relationship between religious hatred, politics, and economics.and#8221;and#8212;Rabbi Hayyim Angel, National Scholar at the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals and professor of Bible at Yeshiva University
Review
andldquo;Payneandrsquo;s revivalist presentation of a broad continuity of Spainandrsquo;s history, centered on its Castilian heartland, unfailingly maintains the standards of balance and objectivity that have always been the hallmark of his endeavor.andrdquo;andmdash;Robert A. Stradling, author of The Irish and the Spanish Civil War
Review
andldquo;This is a fascinating and original addition to the canon of single-volume surveys of Spain.andrdquo;andmdash;
European History QuarterlyReview
andquot;[Exiles in Sepharad is] a nuanced work that acknowledges both the heights and depths of the Jewish experience in Spain, where Jews enjoyed a level of prosperity, acclaim and power not matched anywhere else in Europe.andquot;andmdash;Sheldon Kirshner, Times of Israel
Synopsis
The significance of Spain’s Second Republic has been largely overshadowed by the cataclysmic Civil War that immediately followed it. Stanley Payne brings his immense knowledge of Spanish history to bear on the five-year span of the Second Republic as a historic entity in its own right. In Spain’s First Democracy, he argues that the Republic was one of the major national attempts at political democratization and reform in Europe between the World Wars and represented the most important effort to swim against the tide during Europe’s “era of fascism.”
Payne’s detailed study places the Republic within the historical framework of Spanish liberalism and the rapid modernization of interwar Europe, which was unlike any other period in Spain’s history. Payne discusses the Republicans’ efforts to establish Spain’s first democratic political systems and to institute major reforms within the Republic. In highlighting reforms in politics and government, church-state relations, education and culture, public works, military affairs, and society as a whole, he assesses the successes and failures of these reforms as well as the reasons for their limitations. He also examines the economic and foreign policy issues of the period.
Focusing particularly on political conflict and social cleavage, Payne brilliantly explores the sources and character of the political polarization that developed as a result of the assaults on the Republic from the Left and the Right. He identifies the main political actors in this schism and their role in the eventual breakdown of the Republic. Tracing the progressive collapse of the Republican polity in the first half of 1936, Payne stresses the importance of political violence in the democracy’s downfall.
In restoring perspectives that have been ignored or bypassed, Payne presents a consistent and detailed interpretation of Spain’s Second Republic, demonstrating its striking parallels to the Weimar Republic in Germany.
Synopsis
The dramatic one-thousand-year history of Jews in Spain comes to life in
Exiles in Sepharad. Jeffrey Gorsky vividly relates this colorful period of Jewish history, from the era when Jewish culture was at its height in Muslim Spain to the horrors of the Inquisition and the Expulsion.
Twenty percent of Jews today are descended from Sephardic Jews, who created significant works in religion, literature, science, and philosophy. They flourished under both Muslim and Christian rule, enjoying prosperity and power unsurpassed in Europe. Their cultural contributions include important poets; the great Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides; and Moses de Leon, author of the Zohar, the core text of the Kabbalah.
But these Jews also endured considerable hardship. Fundamentalist Islamic tribes drove them from Muslim to Christian Spain. In 1391 thousands were killed and more than a third were forced to convert by anti-Jewish rioters. A century later the Spanish Inquisition began, accusing thousands of these converts of heresy. By the end of the fifteenth century Jews had been expelled from Spain and forcibly converted in Portugal and Navarre. After almost a millennium of harmonious existence, what had been the most populous and prosperous Jewish community in Europe ceased to exist on the Iberian Peninsula.
About the Author
Stanley G. Payne is the Hilldale-Jaume Vicens Vives Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin Madison. His many books include The Franco Regime: 1936-1975; Fascism: Comparison and Definition; Spain's First Democracy: The Second Republic, 1931-1936; and A History of Fascism, 1914-1945, all published by the University of Wisconsin Press.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Image of Spain
Part I
The Formation of a Hispanist
Part II: A Reading of the History of Spain
1. Visigoths and Asturians: andquot;Spaniardsandquot;?
2. Spain and Islam: the Myth of Al-Andalus
3. Reconquest and Crusade: A andquot;Spanish Ideologyandquot;?
4. Spain and the West
5. Identity, Monarchy, Empire
6. Spain and Portugal
7. Decadence and Recovery
8. The Problem of Spanish Liberalism
Part III: Dilemmas of Contemporary History
9. A Republic Without Republicans?
10. The Debate over Responsibilities
11. Moscow and Madrid: A Strange Encounter
12. The Spanish Civil War: Sequel to World War lor Prelude to World War II?
13. Jose Antonio: The Presence of El Ausente
14. Spanish Fascism: A andquot;Strange Caseandquot;?
15. Francisco Franco: Fascist Monster or Savior of the Fatherland?
16. The Long Shadow of the Army
17. Controversies about History in Contemporary Spain