Tremlett's taut recounting of the 2004 train bombings in Madrid makes especially timely reading, with the suspects now on trial. Also, the transition was made easier (perhaps possible) by a widespread practice of letting the past remain in the past. Many Spaniards may feel uncomfortable with Tremlett's tales of abuse of power or sexual hypocrisy, but won't deny their truth.

Ghosts of Spain By Giles Tremlett | Used | 9780571279395 Ghosts of Spain By Giles Tremlett | Used | 9780571279395

It was a top-selling history book in Spain in 2018 and has also been translated into Portuguese and Chinese.

She edited her first newspaper aged 14 and founded the League for Sexual Reform, only for her mother to shoot her dead in a jealous rage while she slept. The book is, however, a bit disorganized, jumping back and forth over the decades, without an over-arching thematic cohesiveness. Today, Spaniards are acutely aware of the echoes the reformist policies of the current socialist government evoke of the 1930s and the troubled republican years that preceded the civil war. So I will also pardon the lack of voice (either in personal background or unique tone) from the author.

Ghosts of Spain : travels through Spain and its silent past Ghosts of Spain : travels through Spain and its silent past

This book is between 350 and 400 pages, divided into thirteen chapters that seek to discuss one or another element of Spanish history and culture that strikes the author's unsystematic fancy. This digging up of the past marks Giles Tremlett's starting point for a series of essays on Spain, loosely presented as a travel book, exploring some of the more intriguing aspects of the country through its history, taking in everything from flamenco to Basque nationalism. Perhaps the most interesting chapters were on the Basque, Catalan and Galician regions and their various quests for separate identities. carried along by the author' s enthusiasm for his subject and his determination to capture this contemporary Spanish moment.Mortality, and, with it, a strong emotional tie to the past, has a peculiar resonance here that is found in few other European cultures. Cumulatively his delightful collection of essays do manage to capture both the charm and frustration of Spanish life. t tej s`gj tdgj, ej nffjrs trjhae`ht ncsjrv`tdnhs nh gnrj quntdkd`h `spjats nf Qp`hdse bdf j tnk`y< tej rj`snhs, fnr jx`gpbj, Qp`hd`rks kdsbdmj `utenrdty fdourjs, cut `rj anwjk cy ` knatnr—s wedtj an`t, `hk enw wngjh e`vj jgcr`ajk fjgdhdsg wdtenut gjh hntdadho.

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

Also - his declaration that the Spaniards are strict rule followers is a joke which you would not find funny had you ever had to stand in a line with twenty Spaniards who do not think the rules apply to them and cut in front of you at every opportunity. Tremlett's] affectionate yet critical intimacy with the country helps to make this book much more than an ordinary journalistic survey.

Overall, this is an interesting snapshot and tour of the 'new' Spain of about 15 years ago by a British transplant journalist, Giles Tremlett. One of the downsides for Spain is that it’s in an awkward position compared to the rest of Western Europe.