Culture and Customs of Spain (Culture and Customs of Europe) [Hardcover]

Edward F. Stanton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0313314632 | ISBN-13: 978-0313314636 | Publication Date: April 30, 2002

Modern Spain is a revelation in this up-to-date overview. Stanton vibrantly describes the startling variety of landscape, people, and culture that make up Spain today. Included are a context chapter and others on religion, customs, media, cinema, literature, performing arts, and visual arts. Students of Spanish and a general audience will be rewarded with engrossing insights into what writer Ernest Hemingway called "the very best country of all." Spain is a modern European nation, yet Spaniards are fiercely tied to their individual towns and regions--with their distinct social customs, dialects or languages, foods, landscape, and lifestyles--more than to a united country. Culture and Customs of Spain conveys the extremes, such as the hard-working Catalan contrasted to the leisurely paced Castilian, coexisting in first and third world conditions, and the love/hate relationship with the Catholic Church. Spain's institutions are described, and its contributions to the world--from unparalleled literature and cuisine to flamenco and filmmaker Pedro Almodovar--are celebrated. A chronology and glossary complement the text.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“...impart much information on a wide range of cultural topics, offering readers jumping-off points for further reasearch.”–Multicultural Review

“...useful if world history classes need another recent book on this country.”–Thomson-Gale Reference for Students

“Recommended as an up-to-date reference on Spain.”–Gale-Reference Reviews

“Cultures and Customs of Spain is a lively, readable guide to the diverse cultures and traditions of Spanish Society...Recommended for academic, school, and public libraries.”–American Reference Books Annual

Book Description

Vibrantly reveals the startling variety of landscape, people, and culture that make up Spain today.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (April 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313314632
• ISBN-13: 978-0313314636
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,387,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars High-quality country analysis, May 25, 2006

By 

kjellnilsson (Orebro Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Culture and Customs of Spain (Culture and Customs of Europe) (Hardcover)

This book gives an excellent overview of many aspects of Spain, in chapters entitled Context (geographic setting, languages spoken, etc.), Religion, Customs, Media, Cinema, Literature, Performing Arts, and Visual Arts. Particular attention is given to the changes in these respects that have taken place during the years of societal transition from 1975 and onward. It should thus not be thought of as a traveling guide. Each chapter is followed by a list of references documenting the stuff presented: none goes beyond the year 1999 so the book has obviously been in the editing process several years before appearing. But among the references there are many tips of quality internet sites for those interested to pursue a given topic at greater depth.
As one who has visited Spain many times I recognize much of what is written here as to the point. I sense no tilting to any one side when it comes to presenting controversial topics -and these abound in Spain. If I were a student of Spanish language and/or history, or a retiree contemplating to settle in Spain, I would want to own this book. The drawback is the ridiculous price asked for a 206-page book with only 25 b/w pictures. For this, I detract one star.
(Note that the "Handbook of Spanish popular culture" by the same author is virtually the same book, the main difference being that in this older version there is a separate chapter, Ch. 1, entitled Languages, which is of interest if you are specially looking for a non-technical overview of this. In the 2002 version language is taking a back seat with only a few pages devoted to it within the "Context" chapter 1.)