I used to think Spain had a special hold on the imaginations of writers of English because of the many good books about it penned by authors from the United Kingdom and also several by Americans, including Washington Irving.
Irving is better known today in his home country for having written “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle.” But he wrote quite a bit about 15th century Spanish history, blending fact and fiction, and spent time in Spain researching those works. His fascination or respect for Spain is somtimes reciprocated. In Granada, 15 or 20 years ago, they put up a statue of Irving near the Alhambra. (Spain probably has more statues honoring writers and artists than it does politicians. In Ronda, there is one at the entrance to a city park that pays tribute to film genius Orson Welles, who loved the place so much it is where he chose for his ashes be interred.
But the English have written hundreds, if not thousands of books about Spain. Englishman Richard Ford, in the 19th century, more or less invented the travel writing genre as we know it today with a massive, three-volume “Handbook for Spain.”
And before him there was George Borrow, a Bible salesman who wrote about his experiences in Spain.
Ford’s contribution is part guidebook, part travelogue, part memoir, and partly indefinable so far as I am concerned because I know of nothing else quite like it. It is still a fun read because he was free with his opinions and excelled at that haughtily superior Victorian English tone that would be difficult for a contemporary writer to pull off. His personality bleeds through the pages. Here are a couple of examples taken from his description of Spain’s geography:
That’s a harsh assessment but it is true that Spain was not having one of its golden moments in history when Ford came to know it.
This section will highlight various books written in English about Spain. Some better than others. We hope you find the summaries helpful and if you have a favorite book about Spain that you don’t see on our list please let us know about it so we can perhaps add it.