Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 A witty mix of the personal and the historical March 18, 2006
C. Skala
45 out of 46 found this review helpful
Tremlett is a witty, trenchant and astute observer of modern Spain. Being an outsider will forever condemn him in the eyes of Spaniards wishing their past would go quietly into the night; and yet it is just his outsider status that allows him to couple the telling quote with the ascerbic-yet-loving anecdote. His chapter on flamenco is an outsider's paean to his adopted country. The chapter on Benidorm combines high-comedy, bathos and despair in equal measure. His writing is at its best when his natural wit and humour come to the fore, traits which lift this book well-above the usual 'foreign correspondent does foreign country' diatribe. Highly recommended.
Essential reading for the expats June 12, 2007
Mr. M. Chorlton (Andalucia, Spain)
34 out of 35 found this review helpful
This was the book I had been looking for for a long time; something that would give me an insight into what makes the modern spain and the spaniard 'tick'. I knew a little about recent spanish history but didn't want to delve headlong into book after book about the moors, the civil war, franco etc. This book provides a perfect summarisation of all of these and a whole lot more. An incredible amount has happened to Spain in recent times and the future promises a lot more. This book will hopefully provide a useful insight into where Spain has come from and where its heading in the future. Not a book that can be rushed through. Take your time and digest as one would with a good meal.
Clear and Passionate account of Spain past and present March 6, 2006
charlotta stanley (Radford UK)
65 out of 68 found this review helpful
This book is a balance between an accurately researched and passionately personal account of Spain past and present. Having lived in Spain for a short while - I felt it captured precisely the atmosphere of this fascinating and multi-levelled culture which eludes so many of us. Tremlett has obviously met this Herculean task of unveiling a complicated history and multi-facetted culture with great sensitivity and compassion. He covers complicated and sensitive isues such as the Franco era, ETA and Basque culture and history aswell as flamenco and the history of tourism and the Spaniard's relation to all these issues today.
The author's compassion for the Spaniards and their past is offset by the precision of the journalist's eye for the politically explosive and important issues which have come into the public eye recently. He delves deeply with great passion and understanding into a culture he has adopted as his own but to which he will never belong. At times I felt I was reading a scintillating novel and at others I was reading a political account. The author manages to synthesise these beautifully! If you have ever been to Spain, want to go to Spain or are just interested in the country, read this book!
It will deepen your compassion and expand your understanding of a culture that has had so many ties with our own over the years.
Great stuff May 12, 2006
H. J. Morgan Brown (Ibiza/Eivissa)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I have nearly finished reading this book (unfortunately since I am really enjoying it) and am recommending it to my friends. I have lived in Spain for 32 years and the book offers a fresh approach to describing Spanish society and recent history, sorting out(for me)fact from fiction. I found it offered a sensitive look at the civil war... I see one reviewer has called this oversimplified, but as a person who seldom has found History interesting, I appreciated the way Giles has gone about bringing history to life using interviews with those involved: both members of the falange and families of the victims etc.
I like his journalistic approach which is lively, often funny without being patronising, and the details of his experiences and many of his impressions and surprises, I find I share, others are very revealing and fresh.
The examples of the two Spains I have witnessed also. He obviously loves the country and its people. I think British people who stay "home" always have a problem with this as if somehow we were traitors by living abroad! Well done Giles. I will look out for more of your writing. If it's about Spain that is!
Accurate, Perceptive, Interesting January 30, 2007
Dennis Hale (Alabama, USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Tremlett is a very good writer and held my interest well. He is also quite accurate about ways and customs of the Spanish people from region to region. I spent 25 years in Spain (1965-1990, ten of those under Francisco Franco. From Tremlett's meticulous research and perceptive observations, he filled in the gaps in my knowledge of Spain reminding me of many things that happened during my years in Spain and furnishing background material I didn't have at the time because of censorship. He also brought me up-to-date on what's happened in Spain since I left. I found it very interesting that there are movements in Spain today to bring to justice those responsible for the atrocities during Franco's reign--however that might play out in the political and social arenas.
My only criticism of his book was not about his writing style nor content, but chapter organization--they were very long and not sub-divided. Most readers read a few pages at a time and Tremlett's book had no logical stopping points for readers like me.
However, I highly recommend Ghosts of Spain.
Dennis Hale (Author of The Prayer Amendment: A Satire of Southern Politics and Religion)
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