jjares reviewed Spanish History: A Captivating Guide to the History of Spain and the Basques on + 3405 more book reviews
Get more for your money with these two, excellent narrations of the history of Spain and of the Basques, bound together for easier reading and understanding. I had been hoping for a Basque history for some time and this summary really satisfied my curiosity about these unique people.
SPANISH HISTORY --
The first chapter was eye-opening because Captivating History took Spain's history back to the Stone Age, where hominids appeared on the Iberian Peninsula. The book mentions crude tools, hominids that eventually emerged into neanderthals, and cave art. The humans drew animals that have been gone for centuries. It made me wonder why there was so much activity on the Iberian Peninsula when life was supposed to have begun in the Tiber-Euphrates River Valley. This chapter was absolutely fascinating.
The Iberian Peninsula has witnessed an incredible amount of history. Captivating History offered a clear, concise explanation of the Punic Wars. After Rome dominated the Iberian Peninsula, Romans were sent to rule. They tended to be greedy and vicious; rebellions were common. The locals tended to be slaughtered in the thousands for rising up against the Romans.
After suppressing the rebellions, Rome moved to pacification and assimilation with the Hispanics. The idea was to teach Hispania of the riches of Roman culture and society. Roman war veterans were encouraged to live there. Romans built bridges, aqueducts, and other architectural marvels. Before long, the Hispanics were building in the Roman style. Another change was the Hispanics absorbed the Roman deities into their pagan beliefs. Later, Christianity started to grow on the Peninsula.
The Roman Empire faltered as the Visigoths (German tribes) migrated westward into the Iberian Peninsula; eventually, they adopted Arian Christianity (Jesus Christ is separate from God the Father and subservient to him) and controlled Iberia. In the early 700s, the Muslims overtook the Visigoths and controlled Iberia until around 1212 CE.
The remaining chapters are a rapidly-evolving story of civil war, world wars, dictators, and monarchs. I thought the explanation of the Hapsburgs and Bourbons in Spanish history was really helpful. The thumbnail sketch of Horatio Nelson's naval exploits was brief but exciting. Finally, this book explains the long way the Spanish have traveled and the way the population is turning the country to face the future.
HISTORY OF THE BASQUES --
It is amazing that this very old ethnic group is distinct from its neighbors in both Spain and France. They do not share their language with their neighbors -- at all (incredibly, their language is a 'language isolate' having no related language). Geneticists have now traced the DNA markers of the Basques to people from the Ural Mountains in Russia. The caves of the Pyrenees Mountains show fascinating art; the Basques were incredibly ancient peoples who drew lions, rhinoceroses, and other wildlife not seen in Western Europe since their history started to be recorded.
I was stunned to learn that the Jesuits (Society of Jesus) were formed by two Basque men, St. Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. Ignatius was a Basque military leader who became an important Catholic Church theologian. Francis Xavier was beatified by the Church and came from Navarre. The Jesuits were some of the most important church missionaries, educational leaders, and charitable dispensers for the Church.
This book is a fascinating look at an ancient people who number about 3 million, distributed around the world. They have survived in spite of larger ethnic groups trying to change them. An amazing statement from this book is -- Even today, the Basques 'haven't lost much of the purity of their ethnicity.' (p. 111)
SPANISH HISTORY --
The first chapter was eye-opening because Captivating History took Spain's history back to the Stone Age, where hominids appeared on the Iberian Peninsula. The book mentions crude tools, hominids that eventually emerged into neanderthals, and cave art. The humans drew animals that have been gone for centuries. It made me wonder why there was so much activity on the Iberian Peninsula when life was supposed to have begun in the Tiber-Euphrates River Valley. This chapter was absolutely fascinating.
The Iberian Peninsula has witnessed an incredible amount of history. Captivating History offered a clear, concise explanation of the Punic Wars. After Rome dominated the Iberian Peninsula, Romans were sent to rule. They tended to be greedy and vicious; rebellions were common. The locals tended to be slaughtered in the thousands for rising up against the Romans.
After suppressing the rebellions, Rome moved to pacification and assimilation with the Hispanics. The idea was to teach Hispania of the riches of Roman culture and society. Roman war veterans were encouraged to live there. Romans built bridges, aqueducts, and other architectural marvels. Before long, the Hispanics were building in the Roman style. Another change was the Hispanics absorbed the Roman deities into their pagan beliefs. Later, Christianity started to grow on the Peninsula.
The Roman Empire faltered as the Visigoths (German tribes) migrated westward into the Iberian Peninsula; eventually, they adopted Arian Christianity (Jesus Christ is separate from God the Father and subservient to him) and controlled Iberia. In the early 700s, the Muslims overtook the Visigoths and controlled Iberia until around 1212 CE.
The remaining chapters are a rapidly-evolving story of civil war, world wars, dictators, and monarchs. I thought the explanation of the Hapsburgs and Bourbons in Spanish history was really helpful. The thumbnail sketch of Horatio Nelson's naval exploits was brief but exciting. Finally, this book explains the long way the Spanish have traveled and the way the population is turning the country to face the future.
HISTORY OF THE BASQUES --
It is amazing that this very old ethnic group is distinct from its neighbors in both Spain and France. They do not share their language with their neighbors -- at all (incredibly, their language is a 'language isolate' having no related language). Geneticists have now traced the DNA markers of the Basques to people from the Ural Mountains in Russia. The caves of the Pyrenees Mountains show fascinating art; the Basques were incredibly ancient peoples who drew lions, rhinoceroses, and other wildlife not seen in Western Europe since their history started to be recorded.
I was stunned to learn that the Jesuits (Society of Jesus) were formed by two Basque men, St. Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. Ignatius was a Basque military leader who became an important Catholic Church theologian. Francis Xavier was beatified by the Church and came from Navarre. The Jesuits were some of the most important church missionaries, educational leaders, and charitable dispensers for the Church.
This book is a fascinating look at an ancient people who number about 3 million, distributed around the world. They have survived in spite of larger ethnic groups trying to change them. An amazing statement from this book is -- Even today, the Basques 'haven't lost much of the purity of their ethnicity.' (p. 111)
