This a beautifully written book that in many ways reminds me of the writing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The story unfolds in part through the author's experiences and in part through the entertainingly gossipy banter of the villagers - - I really enjoyed trying to figure out what was fact and what was fantasy, not only while reading the story, but in thinking about afterwards as well. I am definitely looking forward to reading Ms. Albues' other books and hope to see them translated into English before too long.

This was the first time reading something by Tereza Albues and I was not very familiar with the genre -- a friend recommended the book to me. I found the story to very charming and actually laughed out loud a few times at the antics of some of her characters. What made the book even more endearing to me was when I found out that some of the characters in the book are based up on people she knew in her childhood. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a great story teller and lively, amusing characters.

In the spirit of Latin American literary works, Pedra Canga brings together mysticism, magic and the constant struggle for good versus evil. We share the uncertainty of the author as she investigates the truth behind the majestic, abandoned house belonging to the Vergares family. Throughout her quest, we are introduced to the many colorful characters that make up this small town in Brazil. Beautifully written, Pedra Canga is a very enjoyable novel that will leave an impression on all tho read it.

I enjoyed this book very much. The author has a wonderful eye for detail and communicates a deep appreciation of architectural detail of the numerous churches that played such an important part in the experience of the pilgrimage. I did have initial reservations about the role of the car in his journey, but his descriptions of the road won me all the same. I particularly liked his quotes from and responses to earlier writers. He has a keen sense of the historical setting and impact of the polgrimage, which I found fascinating.

Even though it was written over 20 years ago, this is probably the best book on the pilgrimage to Santiago. Mullins is an architect with words. He turns 12c history into a series of vivid and interesting vignettes and tales, provides a wealth of fascinating detail --such as the digression about the origins of the word Compostella (Campo Stella)-- about churches (trends in Romanesque architectire), places and people. etc. etc. Better than anyone else, Mullins thoroughly covers the principal sights and stops along all four pilgrimage routes dissecting France -- right up to Puente la Reina southwest of Pamplona where they meet; he then leads you on the concluding stage of the journey to Burgos, Leon and finally Galicia.

In the late 80s I covered some of the routes between Paris and Santiago de Compostella. Only after reading his book had I realized how much I had missed. Even though Mullins does not paint himself as a believer, he conveys a certain spirituality with which a believer can relate. One of the best aspects of his book is that quite often he actually gets out of his car and walks through some places along the pigrimage route. I am reminded of a discussion I once had in Paris with a Serb friend on the relative merits of touring holy places, say on a donkey . . . vesus the now ubiqitous automobile. Even though I argued for the efficiency, flexibility and speed of the auto, today I have to admit he was right: covering the same sights on a donkey is by far a much richer experience than rushing through a country in the most comfortable of cars -- a point that Mullins unintentionally brings in his book. A ride on a donkey, or just walking, is more uplisting because it allows you to experience feelings and see details you can never hope to appreciate from a speeding car. So much for progress, fast tranposration and modern technology . . .

Mullins was a BBC Broadcaster and he did a superb job on the writing about the pilgrimage. Unfortunately the book itself is out of print. The publishers might bring out a reprint and then I will order two copies from Amazon. Extracts from the book can be found under the travel section of the Telegraph Online Newspaper look under Yahoo for this newspaper. There is also quite a bit of useful information on the pilgrimage to santiago under the Travel section of the Telegraph Online.

This book is powerful in its simplicity. Stanton's journey is mundane, but from the people he meets and the sites he visits, we learn much about life and travel.Books on the pilgrimage are plenty now, but I would recommend this one for the everyday traveler taking the path.

This is a fascinating book, and will appeal both to those who love travel tales and those on a spiritual quest. No self-described holy man, the author is frank about doubting his faith and his ambivalence in making the pilgrimage. Yet you see throughout the book how the journey emptied then replinished him He draws vivid word pictures about the sights, smells and characters that he encounters. If you have a desire to drop out of the hustle and bustle of life to learn to listen to the great, glorious creation around you and the Creator above, then this book will make your feet itch to begin your personal pilgrimage. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and was enriched by the reading. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This is a great book and is a very useful guide to the pilgrimage. It is hard to find, and Amazon is doing a great service in trying to provide it for pilgrims. However extracts from the book with very useful information can be found at the Telegraph Online London web site in the TRAVEL section. Look search under Yahoo for Telegraph Online and then Browse the many pages and articles on the pilgrimage found under the travel section. The book is fully reviewed in the newspapers's travel pages, the site has many useful useful facts about the pilgrimage including a FAQ

This book was an amazing account of the Spanish in North America. Many of the themes that occur during this time period occur in almost every time period and place. Dealing with religious intolerence, slavery, econmoy, unification, and the influence of all people on one another this book captures everything. Themes this book expresses about this time period are even more evident in today's information age as more people from different backgrounds and heritages come together on the internet. This was a good book to read, and made it easy to see the flaws and benefits of the past showing what not to, and what to, repeat.

This is an excellent study of Spain in North America, well written and superbly organized.

Finally a book that takes upon itself to find the truth about the real drive of the Spanish colonization of North America. After decades of mostly subscribing to the Black Legend (the claim that spaniards where just cruel exploiters in search of gold and little else) and partially romanticizing the Spanish presence in this land, a book that puts thing in perspective. The author pays attention to the evolution, not only of the spanish conquest itself but of the interpretations this conquest has had over time. The underlying thesis of the book, namely that the influence of Spain on the natives was reciprocal, not a single sided event is very appealling and well documented. The book is organized in chapters that deal with the spiritual, pollitical and commercial aspects of the settlement. It is by no means a mere account of dates and names; on the contrary, it gives the reader a good feel of the fabric of history: the decline of the spanish impulse that started with the "Reconquista" and the wars against the moors, the uprising commercial ideology that would hand this empire to a younger nation, the obsolescence and impracticality of the religious spanish agenda and conquest methods, the misconceptions about natives and the ambivalent relationship with them, sometimes as fellow citizens when converted, most times difficult and mortal. In general, I enjoyed the book a lot. I recommend it to any serious historian of the Spanish Empire indigested with partial accounts and uncritical acceptance of the myths of our times.

This book is a witty and very clever look at Spanish society. I found most of what I read to be so incredibly true that I was laughing out loud. There are some parts which I found to be less than accurate, in my experience at least, and for that I give it four stars instead of five. Other than that, I highly recommend it. Do take it with a grain of sand however.

good coverage of all spanish quirks. my friends in spain loved it

I'm a Spanish and I enjoyed this book very much because everything it says is true. All the topics are treated with lots of humour and that makes the book really enjoiable. Furthermore, while you are having fun reading the book you learn of the Spanish way of life...

I don't think I will ever get to visit these places. I bought this book for the drawings of maps and building plans. The photos in this book are good for a budget armchair tour. These two aspects together satisfied my curiosity about the architecture better than most individual history or travel books. Of course many other arts are represented along with short narrative articles on people and places.

Others in the series (Rome and Florence for example) fulfill these expectations as well. Consider them small regional encyclopedias, possibly very suitable for a home schooling shelf.

When I visited my son for two weeks in Seville, Spain, this November (2000), I relied heavily on a popular guide for locating hostals, and for a quick historical background. But, I felt a little empty. While Rick Steves' guide book is essential for quick references to transportation information for each city, hotels, hostals, the four or five must-see attractions, and limited historical info, I always wanted more of the history of the places I was seeing. Toward the end of my visit, a Spanish tour guide, a friend of my son, who knew everything about the country, loaned me a book by this author. I am looking for it at Amazon.com this morning. I think this is it. After having already toured large parts of Andalucia, I was still amazed at not only the photographs but the history that was contained within its pages. It is small for a 500 page book and can be carried in your hand without a problem. As an example, the book gives a brief history of Colombus' remains and beautiful sepulcre in the great Cathedral of Seville - not mentioned in some other guidebooks - and which you could miss by just by visiting the church. The book contains a page and a half on the Inquisition, which had its beginnings in Seville, and even shows drawings and explanations of the main methods of torture and "legal" procedures. I found information about the point of departure by Colombus for the new world (Palos de la Frontera, across the bay from Huelga) and the location of the tombs of the Reyes Catolicos (Ferdinand and Isabela) that I could not get in a regular tour book. After reading only sections of the book, I found that I had a knew found respect for los Reyes Catolicos and particularly Isabela and her effort to found a uniform grammar for the country. In addition, it has a more complete listing of sites of each city. If you want to feel that you know Al Andaluz when you leave, get this. Though this book does not have as much hotel and transportation info as Steves, it is a great supplement if you like history.

The separate, removable map which is included makes this book worth the purchase. The map lists all sidestreets, which is necessary to navigate the city. The book itself gives just enough history to familiarize yourself with Barcelona and Catalonia, and then takes you on a neighborhood by neighborhood tour. Lots of good photos throughout. More detailed than the smaller compact version from the same company. Not quite as detailed as guides from other companies (e.g. doesn't include much for phone numbers or tourist tips), but is easier to read than they are.

This was a comprehensive guidebook that gave enough information on all subjects to get you where you were going, tell you how to do things, and alert you to diverse sites and events that were especially interesting. Most important was its way of presenting enough historical, cultural, and political information to make one aware and able to navigate Barcelona's unique environment while at the same time exponentially increasing curiousity. We were working up until the time of our flight and skimmed the book en route. We had never been to Spain, didn't speak Spanish and yet spent two weeks in Barcelona without any difficulties and used only this book as our guide. As a direct result of the ease of use and interest the guide book piqued we bought and read many books on Catalonian history, political history, social culture, Picasso, Gaudi, architecture, etc. while we were exploring the city, making our two weeks of travel instead of a tour of cities into one of the more in depth, interesting trips we've ever taken. In three months we've given a copy of the book to two other families going to Barcelona, tracked down the other Insight Guides and begun to plan next summer's trip around one of them.

This book actually focuses largely (almost entirely) on Christian sources for medieval Spain (hardly "Iberia," since with one exception Portugal, for instance, is not mentioned). Muslim sources are few and the obvious ones, and the rare and altogether inadequate Jewish sources are thrown in as an afterthought. Still, a useful undergraduate textbook, perhaps.

This collection of primary sources concerning the history of Medieval Iberia is quite good for undergraduate study of Muslim Spain, with useful introductions to each source. The predominance of Christian sources may be explained by the fact that many Muslim sources are no longer extant(or did not exist in the first place), particularly concerning the Mozarabic population(Christians under Arab-Berber dominion).

This is the most thorough and up-to-date collection of primary sources relating to the history of medieval Spain yet available. It brings together a vast ocean of important and illustrative Jewish, Christian and Muslim sources, many of which have never before been translated. Readers, especially historians, will find much of value in this carefully-selected and thoughtfully arranged anthology. Few other collections give such a sense of the richness and diversity of medieval Iberian society.

The Pope's Elephant by Silvio A. Bedini is a fun book although it does not quite deliver the promise of the subtitle on the cover. It is not really about the journey of an elephant from deep in India to the heart of Rome. It is really about the strange workings of Rome and the Papacy in the early 1500's and their dealings with other nations, such as Portugal from which the ill-fated elephant, Hanno, arrives. The author uses a great variety of sources for this journey, particulary interesting being the use made of contemporary artists to provide proof of events. This book could have used the Pope's elephant for a much wider glimpse of the world at this point in time, but the more narrow version presented here is fascinating and illuminating in its own right. An interesting footnote into history (and, truly, how many interesting footnotes does one run across).

"Rome produces its monkeys and wild goats And every type of wild beast, more even than India and Africa. And now that Leo has become their king, All the animals, even the very elephant, Must hold him in honour."

A verse of Pasquino heralds the arrival of the great elephant Hanno to Rome, where it is presented to Pope Leo X. And so begins Silvio Bedini's delightful story of the pope's elephant. Bedini, whose work has covered a range of topics in the past, began exploring the rumors of a Vatican rhinoceros and elephant, only to find them not only true, but part of a fantastic story of imperial representations of power, patronage, gift-giving, and ceremony.

Brought to Leo X 1514, Hanno the elephant was a symbol of Portuguese power and dominance in the far east, and particularly from India, where the elephant's journey began. Bedini details the long voyage from Lisbon to Porto Ecole, during which the elephant was anchored between the two masts of the boat. From there, the travel to Rome via dirt roads is complicated both by wear on the elephant's tender feet and the throngs of people who crowd the entourage, trying to get a look at the most spectacular gift. In Rome, the elephant is finally, and formally, handed over to the pope, and Bedini shows his remarkable descriptive skill in sketching out every aspect of the ceremony. Those interested in the rituals of such religious, nationalistic and political events (all bundled into one) will be satisfied with Bedini's work here. Once in Rome and rested, Hanno becomes a living symbol of the period, captured by poets, playwrights, and artists. Oddly, the elephant shared a small amount of fame with a rhinoceros, another gift from the Portuguese. The fate of this beast, however, is less well known, and while it appears in several commissioned paintings from the period, its fate remains unclear.

The book closes with the death of Leo X, and the changes which ensued, both religiously and culturally, after his passing. Bedini thoughtfully examines the influence of this pope and his large beast on the belles lettres of the period. Beautiful plates show the extent to which the elephant--as a symbol of the Church's strength, of the Pope's magnificence, and of the animal's own divine purpose--captivated people, and the reader is given a new perspective on the 16th century, simply by focusing on an elephant.

If you've even a passing interest in historiography - supplementing the historical record with artifacts and peripherally supporting documentary evidence to glean a substantial picture of the world represented by written history - you will find this book a treasure.

At times shocking, at others moving, often repellant and even more frequently laugh-out-loud audacious, it is always illuminating.

This is high scholarship, but only very rarely is it dry. Good for the gothic audience: never again will you dream of living in romantic 16th C Europe, not after the smells and sounds and horrific displays of human behavior brought to life by Bedini and the story of the elephant/s.

Miguel Torga is the pseudonym of Adolfo Correia da Rocha, a Portuguese writer born in Trás-os-Montes, a remote, desolate, poor region of the country, a place from which many natives were to emigrate in search of a better future. Miguel Torga became known first through the transcendent beauty of his poems, but his literary work also includes diaries and short stories. The last is the case of "Tales from the Mountain," a collection of short stories focused on the way of life and the people of his native land. Miguel Torga remained throughout his life sentimentally rooted to this region, he created a myth of Trás-os-Montes, a lost paradise of his early childhood, a place he was forced to leave but whose prints remained forever embedded in his mind.

These short stories have a "universal regionalism" which becomes more poignant if the reader has been to "Trás-os-Montes." Narration is in the third person, and in a tragic tone the author laments for the life of those who have been left alone to face their relentless destiny.

Far from embracing the cute multicultural stories of a elizabeth vasconcelos or a nino ricci, Torga writes about a remote area of Portugal, Tras os Montes with an unflinching, bitter view point. The lives of these people lead are hard and very rarely does he poeticize their hard labours. A rugged landscape which is difficult to grow anything, makes for a harsh people. However, Torga does imbue many stories with wonderful history and culture which transcend the mundane existence of his characters. Alma Grande is an especially beautiful and painful story of a cryptic community of Jews who hide their religion from the other community of Catholics. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read not only good fiction, but to anyone who would benefit by knowing some of the customs and attitudes of a people who leave in a remote area of a beautiful country.

The writing of Torga, in this book as in many others, is geographically confined to Tras-os-Montes, a rough and unyielding region of Portugal, if one of the two most awe inspiring ones (along with Alentejo); and it takes place during the times of the dictatorship in Portugal. However, the content of the tales is transcendent, both of time and space, as it delivers, with its situations and characters, an earthly portrayal of the human being, a rough sketch of the human condition, somewhat like the portraits of Rembrandt can also be regarded as an analysis of the human face.