Madrid: The History Paperback – April 28, 2015

excellent

I bought this in anticipation of a trip to Spain centered around Madrid. The history of a place is important to me & this explained it well. I just wish I'd finished it before my trip. There are some great places to visit recommended at the end. Some I found on my own but others I could only see with Google maps. The book was a good purchase, I got my moneys worth.Thanks for your effort Jules...

Nice book, especially if you are a native, I guess, or love the fever and nightlife of the city from living or visiting.

The man traffics in stereotypes and condescension. Therefore he understands nothing and fails even to provide an accurate report of what he sees, tripped up as he is by one cliché after another. Even Gerald Brenan 70 years ago, despite his silly Romantic conviction that something like a Spanish essence existed and it could only be found in the mountain villages of Andalusia, nevertheless caught the splendor and magnetism of this city despite his Arcadian prejudices. And that was the postwar conquered former Republican capital of 1950. The city has blossomed magnificently in the past 40 years, with a renewed commitment to great architecture and urban planning (the public transport system is a wonder), wonderful new art museums, more in the pipeline (including a museum devoted to the unsurpassed royal collections of tapestries, musical instruments, coaches, and clocks), a superbly refurbished archaeological museum, and a burgeoning theater and live music scene (especially notable for daring new productions and commissions of opera, for which the Teatro Real won the long-deserved International Opera Awards prize for best opera company in the world in 2021). In English, you’re better off reading Michael Jacobs, who really loved, knew, and understood Madrid without the ridiculous apologies some think they need to offer up for that. In French, Bartolomé Bennassar has written acutely about the city.

At only 223 pages, excluding the introduction, this book is more a tasting menu, sort of like the many tapas dishes you find in Madrid's restaurants and bars, of Madrid's 2000 year history. It stops here, describes an event, then goes there, and describes some more. The reader should not expect an in depth discussion of events, but it is a good beginning to a capital that for various reasons, geographical and political, has managed to develop on its own, it is an really good addition to a travel guide for any one planning a visit to Madrid.

Excellent purchase, especially for those who are in an eternal love with Spain, like myself. Recommendations! Arrived on time, in a mint condition! I'm really satisfied!

Why hasn’t this magnificent book been translated to Spanish? A jewel like this should have been made available to Spanish readers!A fascinating travel throughout the history of Madrid and, consequently, of Spain. Not only of the facts and the buildings, but also of the people (the “madrileños”), with all their glory and miseries.I’ve had a great time reading it, and would recommend this book to anyone. Not a single dull moment. Mr Stewart has done a great job of weaving the most prominent moments of our interesting (and very often, sad and disgraceful) history. To my knowledge, he hasn’t missed any event of great significance, (I just missed a mention of Monseñor Tarancón, nowhere to be found). Specially touching is the chapter of the civil war. To the less adept about history, with this fascinating account you’ll jump from one century to the next without loosing track!The final chapter is a two day visit guide to Madrid’s best highlights.I take my virtual hat off to the author! Great job!

Die einzige verfügbare historische Biografie Madrids, von einem Autor der die Stadt zweifellos liebt.Ein gut nach Epochen gegliedertes Werk, mit leider zu wenigen Abbildungen, aber es ist ja auch kein Reiseführer. Übersichtlich führt es vom maurischen Mayrit zur Requonkista, in die Habsburgischen Ära, zur Burbonischen Zeit mit all seinen Brüchen, in die Moderne zur die Franco Zeit und in die Neuzeit. Obwohl mit geradeeinmal 255 Seiten sehr kompakt fand der Autor noch Platz für einige unterhaltsame Anektoten.

It's a great book about Madrid's since it was established till today, the chapters about Franco's dictatorship and the arrival of democracy are a must.

Elegantly written, meticulously researched and thoroughly enjoyable.