Why Spain Matters: The Story of the Land That Shaped the Western World by Jason Webster ISBN 9781913955052, 1913955052, B093HYZ19W instant download

Why Spain Matters: The Story of the Land That Shaped the Western World by Jason Webster ISBN 9781913955052, 1913955052, B093HYZ19W instant download

'A fine new history of Spain at a crucial crossroads in its existence' – Jon Lee Anderson

Frequently overlooked as just another southern European country, Spain has, in fact, long predicted the future of the West – from the Crusades to the Renaissance, the Discovery of the Americas, World War II, and the recent Occupy Movement. Moreover, without Spain such emblematic Western concepts as rational thought, surgery, ‘modern’ artistic expression, 1984, or the American cowboy would all be missing.

But as with Homer’s doomed prophetess, Cassandra, Spain’s predictions are rarely heard, for her prescient gifts are mostly unrecognized – not least by the Spanish themselves, who periodically engage in collective acts of erasing their history in order to forge new national identities. 

The result is a country which is engaged in perpetual struggle with itself; today she is back in the headlines over an ancient question of whether to remain united or break apart.

Yet out of the troubled crucible that is Spain, pure gold often emerges: pioneers including the ‘patron saint of the Internet’ Isidore of Seville; author of the first European novel Ibn Tufayl; Bartolomé de las Casas, the ‘inventor’ of human rights; and artistic giants such as Cervantes, Goya and Picasso. 

Mixing decades of research with personal anecdote, Why Spain Matters (*) is veteran author Jason Webster’s page-turning story of a hugely influential country from its beginnings to the present day. It is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand Spain, and a complex and changing world. 

'A delightfully engaging read and a good introduction to Spain's turbulent history' – The Times

'A provocative and entertaining trot through the paradoxes of Spanish history' – Literary Review

'Illuminating and always provocative... beautifully written and extremely witty' – Paul Preston

(*) Published in the UK as Violencia: A New History of Spain

Jason Webster

'A clever, hugely readable interpreter of Spain' - The Independent

Jason Webster is a highly acclaimed Anglo-American author and authority on Spain whose work ranges from biography to travel, crime fiction, history and photography.

His books have sold in over a dozen countries, including the US, the UK, Germany, Japan and China, and have been nominated both for the Guardian First Book Award and the Crime Writers’ Association New Blood Dagger Award. He has been favourably compared with writers such as Bruce Chatwin (The Daily Mail), Gerald Brenan (El País) and Ernest Hemingway (Sunday Telegraph).

Webster has written extensively for newspapers and magazines including The Guardian, The Independent, Sunday Times, The Observer, Conde Nast Traveller, The New Statesman, El Asombrario and Classical Guitar Magazine, and has presented and appeared in television and radio documentaries on Spain for the BBC, the Discovery Channel and others.

Webster was brought up in the US, UK, Germany and Italy. After finishing a degree in Arabic and Islamic History at the University of Oxford, he worked as an editor at the BBC for several years before becoming a full-time writer and moving to Spain. He is married to the flamenco dancer Salud and they have two sons. They currently divide their time between Valencia and the UK.