History of Catalonia
History of Catalonia

Author: Jaume Sobrequés i Callicó

Publisher: Editorial Base

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 9788485031863

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This is an ideal introduction to the whole history of Catalonia from the remotest times until the present. It is a rigorous and accessible vision aimed at everyone, which can be read quickly and easily. The book brings the Catalan past to all Catalans and to foreigners who, when they visit Catalonia, want a general understanding of what this country has been over its thousands of years of existence. This short history seeks to set out the formation of a nation with its own state, which played a key role in Europe for centuries. It also explains how this state was attacked for two centuries until its destruction on 11 September 1714 and the subsequent struggle by Catalans to be reborn from their ashes and recover their place in history.

Catalonia - A Cultural History
Catalonia - A Cultural History

Author: Michael Eaude

Publisher: Andrews UK Limited

Published: 2011-10-12

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 1908493240

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Squeezed between more powerful France and Spain, Catalonia has endured a violent history. Its medieval empire that conquered Naples, Sicily and Athens was crushed by Spain. Its geography, with the Pyrenees falling sharply to the rugged Costa Brava, is tormented, too. Michael Eaude traces this history and its monuments: Roman Tarragona, celebrated by the poet Martial; Greek Empuries, lost for centuries beneath the sands; medieval Romanesque architecture in the Vall de Boi churches (a World Heritage Site) and Poblet and Santes Creus monasteries. He tells the stories of several of Catalonia's great figures: Abbot Oliva, who brought Moorish learning to Europe, the ruthless mercenary, Roger de Flor, and Verdaguer, handsome poet-priest. Catalonia is famous today for its twentieth-century art. This book focuses on the revolutionary Art Nouveau buildings (including the Sagrada Familia) of Antoni Gaudi. It also explores the region's artistic legacy: the young Picasso painting Barcelona’s vibrant slums; Salvador Dali, inspired by the twisted rocks of Cap de Creus to paint his landscapes of the human mind; and Joan Miro, discovering the colours of the red earth at Montroig.

The Struggle for Catalonia
The Struggle for Catalonia

Author: Raphael Minder

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 1849048037

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Analyses with rare impartiality what sets the Catalans apart from Spain, and how the separatist debate is playing out.

Homage to Catalonia
Homage to Catalonia

Author: George Orwell

Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan

Published: 2024-10-24

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13:

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Step into the heart of revolutionary Spain with George Orwell's powerful account, Homage to Catalonia. In this poignant narrative, Orwell recounts his firsthand experiences fighting in the Spanish Civil War, offering a vivid and deeply personal perspective on the political and social upheaval of the time. Orwell’s writing brings to life the intense struggles, challenges, and betrayals he witnessed as he joined the militia in Catalonia. With sharp clarity, he paints a stark picture of the ideological divides that tore the country apart, and the complexities of war that blurred the lines between friend and foe.But here's the twist that will captivate you: What does Orwell’s experience reveal about the nature of truth, power, and the human spirit during times of war? Can we learn from the past to avoid repeating its mistakes? This extraordinary memoir offers a rare look into the realities of war, filled with unflinching honesty and a deep sense of humanism. Through Orwell’s eyes, the reader gains an intimate understanding of the personal costs of conflict and the difficult choices soldiers had to make. Are you ready to witness the raw, unfiltered truths of war as seen through the eyes of one of history's most influential writers?Dare to immerse yourself in the brutal honesty of Homage to Catalonia and experience a unique chapter of history that continues to resonate today. Purchase it now, and begin your journey through Orwell’s compelling narrative of war, ideology, and survival.

Authoring the Past
Authoring the Past

Author: Jaume Aurell

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2012-03-21

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0226032345

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Authoring the Past surveys medieval Catalan historiography, shedding light on the emergence and evolution of historical writing and autobiography in the Middle Ages, on questions of authority and authorship, and on the links between history and politics during the period. Jaume Aurell examines texts from the late twelfth to the late fourteenth century—including the Latin Gesta comitum Barcinonensium and four texts in medieval Catalan: James I’s Llibre dels fets, the Crònica of Bernat Desclot, the Crònica of Ramon Muntaner, and the Crònica of Peter the Ceremonious—and outlines the different motivations for the writing of each. For Aurell, these chronicles are not mere archaeological artifacts but rather documents that speak to their writers’ specific contemporary social and political purposes. He argues that these Catalonian counts and Aragonese kings were attempting to use their role as authors to legitimize their monarchical status, their growing political and economic power, and their aggressive expansionist policies in the Mediterranean. By analyzing these texts alongside one another, Aurell demonstrates the shifting contexts in which chronicles were conceived, written, and read throughout the Middle Ages. The first study of its kind to make medieval Catalonian writings available to English-speaking audiences, Authoring the Past will be of interest to scholars of history and comparative literature, students of Hispanic and Romance medieval studies, and medievalists who study the chronicle tradition in other languages.

A Taste of Barcelona
A Taste of Barcelona

Author: H. Rosi Song

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-07-24

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 1538107848

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Widely associated with avant-garde gastronomy and lavish food markets, Barcelona has become a top destination for gourmands and chefs around the world, especially after the spectacular rise of chef Ferran Adrià of the famed elBulli, soon to be reborn as elBulli1846. Barcelona is a city that attracts millions of visitors in search of art and culinary experiences while cookery apprentices from around the world arrive looking to perfect their skills and expand their gastronomic horizon. The city offers an unequaled combination of restaurants, chefs, restauranteurs, media and local government initiatives to help those who arrive seeking an extraordinary culinary experience. But how has the city established itself as a global culinary referent while becoming synonymous with cutting-edge cuisine? This book narrates Barcelona’s urban and culinary development from the Middle Ages to the present, tracing the origins and the growth of the culinary prestige of this part of Catalonia. Barcelona has been a cosmopolitan center since the 1700s because of its location and busy port. The city has always been well supplied with food, and its residents built a strong culinary tradition enlivened by its contact with other cuisines and novel products afforded by its geographic location and the people who migrated to the area. With literature, painting, music and architecture, cooking has been a crucial activity in creating and maintaining a Catalan identity. Past, present and future visitors of the city will find a fascinating history of the unforgettable culinary importance of one of the most popular cities of Spain.

Scots and Catalans
Scots and Catalans

Author: J. H. Elliott

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2018-08-21

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 0300240716

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A landmark account that reveals the long history behind the current Catalan and Scottish independence movements A distinguished historian of Spain and Europe provides an enlightening account of the development of nationalist and separatist movements in contemporary Catalonia and Scotland. This first sustained comparative study uncovers the similarities and the contrasts between the Scottish and Catalan experiences across a five-hundred-year period, beginning with the royal marriages that brought about union with their more powerful neighbors, England and Castile respectively, and following the story through the centuries from the end of the Middle Ages until today’s dramatic events. J. H. Elliott examines the political, economic, social, cultural, and emotional factors that divide Scots and Catalans from the larger nations to which their fortunes were joined. He offers new insights into the highly topical subject of the character and development of European nationalism, the nature of separatism, and the sense of grievance underlying the secessionist aspirations that led to the Scottish referendum of 2014, the illegal Catalan referendum of October 2017, and the resulting proclamation of an independent Catalan republic.

Barcelona
Barcelona

Author: Robert Hughes

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 1993-03-09

Total Pages: 593

ISBN-13: 0679743839

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A monumentally informed and irresistibly opinionated guide to the most un-Spanish city in Spain, from the bestselling author of The Fatal Shore. In these pages, Robert Hughes scrolls through Barcelona's often violent history; tells the stories of its kings, poets, magnates, and revolutionaries; and ushers readers through municipal landmarks that range from Antoni Gaudi's sublimely surreal cathedral to a postmodern restaurant with a glass-walled urinal. The result is a work filled with the attributes of Barcelona itself: proportion, humor, and seny—the Catalan word for triumphant common sense.

Carolingian Catalonia
Carolingian Catalonia

Author: Cullen J. Chandler

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-01-10

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 1108474640

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Traces the political development of the Carolingian Spanish March and revises traditional interpretations of Catalonia's political and constitutional history.