Melindam's Reviews > The History of Spain: Land on a Crossroad

Very good.

Currently this title is included in the Audible Plus catalogue for free and I recommend it to those who -like me- have only a basic knowledge about Spanish history, but would like to know more.

The lecturer, Joyce E. Salisbury, took on quite a challenge with these series of lectures: giving an interesting, intriguing & thought-provoking summary of any country's history just in 12 hours (24 lectures, each 30-minutes long) is no easy feat, but I think she managed it very well. I went through them quickly and easily and was always anticipating what was still coming.

As mentioned before, this is an overview (with accompaniment pdf material - very helpful), not a finely detailed narrative, but I felt that all the major events/persons/issues were touched upon and all aspects (historical, political, social, religious, artistic) were presented analytically, objectively and in context. It can also serve as a solid starting point if you decide to try and find more books on Spanish history.

Recommended.

List of lectures:
1. From Stones to Bronze: Prehistoric Spain
2. Celtic, Phoenician and Greek Colonists
3. Rome Conquers the Iberian Peninsula
4. Christianity Comes to Hispania
5. Barbarian Tribes Divide the Peninsula
6. The Visigoths Unite Spain
7. Islam: The New Religion
8. Conflict with Islam
9. The Moors and the Glory of al-Andalus
10. The Christian Reconquista
11. Medieval Spanish Culture
12. The Sephardim: Iberian Judaism
13. Gypsy Influences on Spain
14. The Growth of the Catholic Religious Passion
15. Columbus and the New World
16. Conquistadors and Missionaries
17. The Spanish Main: Trade Convoys and Piracy
18. The Golden Age of the Spanish Habsburgs
19. Religious Wars on Muslims and Protestants
20. The 18th Century Bourbon Kings of Spain
21. Spain Loses its Empire
22. 20th Century Spanish Modernism
23. The Spanish Civil War and Franco's Reign
24. Modern Spain: still on a Crossroad