A Brief History of Spain: Indispensable for Travellers

Here is an intriguing exploration of the ways in which the history of the Spanish Conquest has been misread and passed down to become popular knowledge of these events. The book offers a fresh account of the activities of the best-known conquistador...

Set in the northeastern corner of Spain and nestled next to France is the autonomous region of Catalonia. The name Catalonia is thought to mean the Land of Castellans (castlan means the governor of a castle), while another version of the story sugge...

It would not be a stretch to say that for a very tiny geographical territory (just 20,747 square kilometers), the Basque Country has inspired a plethora of intense stereotypes. Some of these stereotypes have been cast upon its people from the outsid...

By the mid-15th century the Byzantine Empire had collapsed and the various Crusades that had taken place in the region had largely disrupted the overland routes of the Silk Road and trade. Compounding the difficulties of trade was the rise of the Ot...

Shaped like an uneven triangle, Catalonia is comprised of four provinces that occupy an area of 12,390 square miles: Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona and Lleida. Catalonia also has a variety of different kinds of communities surrounding it, as its nort...

“Goa is sadly famous for its inquisition, equally contrary to humanity and commerce. The Portuguese monks made us believe that the people worshiped the devil, and it is they who have served him.” – Voltaire By the mid-15th century...

These dictators all lived in Southern European countries. Meet the evil despots called:Benito Mussolini: Ironically, when we think of fascism, we often look at someone as brutal and influential as Adolf Hitler, but the word “fascism” ori...

The Netherlands has had a complex and turbulent history involving the interplay of multiple political entities, ethnicities, and languages. The term "Netherlands" (Nederland in Dutch, Pay-Bas in French) refers to the low-lying topography of the regi...

In 1937, George Orwell spent six months witnessing the rise and fall of a popular revolution on the streets of Barcelona and Catalonia. Alone amongst his contemporaries, Orwell understood what the success or failure of that Spanish Revolution would ...