The Penguin History of Modern Spain

Nigel Townson has produced a superb synthesis of the new Spanish history, while offering an original and arresting narrative of his own.

Professor José Álvarez Junco, Complutense University of Madrid

Nigel Townson's compelling analysis of twentieth-century Spain combines a deep knowledge of European history with the novelist's eye for the telling detail.

Professor Michael Seidman, University of North Carolina

Townson provides an engaging and accessible account of Spain's tumultuous twentieth century. Convincingly dismantling the myth of Spanish exceptionalism, he shows that the lights and shadows of modern Spanish history can only be properly understood in the broader European context. This is a compelling and even-handed book

Julius Ruiz, Edinburgh University

A veritable tour de force, this account of Spain's long twentieth century is a model of clarity, organization and economy alike, whilst at the same time offering interpretations that are as bold as they are original

Professor Emeritus Charles J. Esdaile, FRHistS, University of Liverpool

Nigel Townson's book provides a marvellous overview of more than one hundred years of Spanish history. It is based on wide-ranging research, original in approach and accessible in style

Professor Tom Buchanan, University of Oxford

Magnificent... Townson is a leading historian of the country... this stunning and long-overdue pursuit of the truth is his masterpiece

Simon Heffer, Telegraph

This book is impressively researched and admirably dispassionate, and will rightfully become the standard survey of modern Spain available in the English language

Gerard DeGroot, The Times

Impressive... A radical account of Spain's fate in modern times

Martin Chilton, Independent

A detailed survey of political, economic and social history, illuminating many of the trends, tensions and power players that have influenced the course of Spain's modern era

Spectator

This is the best account in a single volume of Spain since 1898, exemplary for concision and for accuracy in the use of language, as well as for equanimity and generosity of spirit ... The Penguin History of Modern Spain explicitly addresses foreigners, taking no knowledge for granted, but Spaniards would do well to heed it

TLS

A splendid study, a true magnum opus. This is absolutely the best history of twentieth-century Spain in either language

Professor Stanley Payne, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Impressive

Tony Barber, Financial Times

Compelling ... Impressively for a book that covers a long and tumultuous era, Townson makes space for recent research, much of which will be new to the general reader ... An up-to-date history of modern Spain is a mammoth task, but one which Townson is well placed to attempt

Dr Mercedes Peñalba-Sotorrío, History Today