UNITED KINGDOM AUTHOR · POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT · HISTORY
Sebastian Balfour
Sebastian Balfour (born in 1941) is an English historian and Professor Emeritus of Contemporary Spanish Studies at the London School of Economics. Source: [Sebastian Balfour]( on Wikipedia.
Most acclaimed
The end of the Spanish empire, 1898-1923
1997
This is the first full account in any language of Spain's disastrous war with the United States in 1898, in which she lost the scattered remnants of her old empire. It is also the first comprehensive analysis of the ensuing political and social crisis in Spain, stretching from the loss of the Empire to the military coup of 1923. Sebastian Balfour weaves together political, economic, and social history in his study of the reaction to war and crisis by a wide range of participants, from rioters to rulers. He examines the rise of Catalan nationalism, the fruitless efforts of politicians and intellectuals to regenerate Spain from above, the disintegration of Spain's political system before 1923, and the creation of an imperial myth in the subsequent dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and Franco. This is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the roots of the Spanish crisis in the first half of the twentieth century.
Castro
1995
"As America moves toward normalizing relations with Cuba, this gripping, vivid graphic novel reveals the life and times of Fidel Castro, one of the 20th century's most intriguing, charismatic, and divisive figures. The book is narrated by a German journalist named Karl Mertens, who is plunged into the searing heat of pre-revolutionary Cuba in the mid-1950s. He first meets with Castro while the latter is hiding in the mountains, then follows him through the dramatic revolution and his ascent to the presidency that, despite the Bay of Pigs confrontation and decades of international trade blockades, lasts for nearly 50 years. We also witness Castro's involvement in bloody skirmishes, failed missions, and brutal crackdowns, as well as his interactions with and on behalf of the Cuban people, which reveal as much about his fallible human qualities as they do his legend. Castro is the work of acclaimed German graphic novelist Reinhard Kleist, who visited Cuba in 2008; it was first published in English by SelfmadeHero for the British market, and is now being made available in North America for the first time. Bristling with energy and alive with the spirit of Cuba, Castro has much to offer about the complex politics of one of the most enduring and controversial figures in modern history."--