Book description
Unlike France and England, Spain has not been dominated by its capital,
and the focus of its history shifts from city to city over the
centuries, illuminating different features of the country's past.
Toledo, Cordoba, Seville and Madrid have at various times managed to
establish a political and cultural supremacy, Cadiz and Barcelona
dominated the economy in the 18th and 19th centuries. Salanca housed one
of the great universities of medieval Europe while Santiago became the
second religious centre of Christendom. In CITIES OF SPAIN David Gilmour
takes us on a journey from Visigothic kingdom and the Cordoban caliphate
to the Madrid of today. The portrait of these cities both now and in the
heyday reveal both their spirit and their significance, and allowed the
reader an intimate view of one of Europe's most fascinating and
intriguing countries. David Gilmour's highly acclaimed works of
contemporary history include
The Transformation of Spain: From Franco to the Constitutional Monarchy
and Lebanon: The Fractured Country
. He is also the author of a recent novel, The Hungry Generations
, and The Last Leopard: A Life of Giuseppe di Lampedusa
, which won the Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award and the Nelson
Hurst and Marsh Biography Award in 1989. He contributes to numerous
publications including The TLS
, the London Review of Books
and the Spectator,
and is currently working on a biography of Lord Curzon. He lives in
Edinburgh with his wife and four children.
