This book performs with great thoroughness all the usual functions of a guidebook. But it is much more than a mere inventory of buildings, paintings, sculpture, routes & views, supplemented by appendices packed with practical information. The authors
- from their long experience & deep knowledge of the country
- are exceptionally well-equipped to draw together into a coherent whole all the threads of history, art, culture & recent developments. They steer you in most rewarding directions, enlivening the hallowed hush of museum or sacristy with an original interpretation of some great painter
- El Greco, Goya, Picasso
- or an observation which suddenly illuminates the seemingly unexceptional. Madrid, rather than just a political capital at the geographical centre of the country, is revealed as a true metropolis, genuinely representative of all the aspects & regional variations of Spanish life. Its art collections are justly renowned as superb. Add in the cluster of historical cities at an easy distance (including Segovia, Avila & Toledo), to say nothing of the lesser-known treasures & delights secreted in the heartlands of Castile, & you have, within a manageable compass, the core of Spanish civilisation.