A powerful biography of Spain's great king, Juan Carlos, by the pre-eminent writer on 20th-century Spanish history. There are two central mysteries in the life of Juan Carlos, one personal, the other political.The first is the apparent serenity with which he accepted that his father had surrendered him, to all intents and purposes, into the safekeeping of the Franco regime. In any normal family, this would have been considered a kind of cruelty or, at the very least, baleful negligence. But a royal family can ...
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A powerful biography of Spain's great king, Juan Carlos, by the pre-eminent writer on 20th-century Spanish history. There are two central mysteries in the life of Juan Carlos, one personal, the other political.The first is the apparent serenity with which he accepted that his father had surrendered him, to all intents and purposes, into the safekeeping of the Franco regime. In any normal family, this would have been considered a kind of cruelty or, at the very least, baleful negligence. But a royal family can never be normal, and the decision to send the young Juan Carlos away from Spain was governed by a certain 'superior' dynastic logic. The second mystery lies in how a prince raised in a family with the strictest authoritarian traditions, who was obliged to conform to the Francoist norms during his youth and educated to be a cornerstone of the plans for the reinforcement of the dictatorship, eventually sided so emphatically and courageously with democratic principles. Paul Preston - perhaps the greatest living commentator on modern Spain - has set out to address these mysteries, and in so doing has written the definitive biography of King Juan Carlos. He tackles the king's turbulent relationship with his father, his cloistered education, his bravery in defending Spain's infant democracy after Franco's death and his immense hard work in consolidating parliamentary democracy in Spain. The resulting biography is both rigorous and riveting, its vibrant prose doing justice to its vibrant subject. It is a book fit for a king.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. Book contains pencil markings. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 500grams, ISBN: 9780006386933.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Size: 9x6x1; hardcover with dust jacket, tight, pages clear and bright, shelf and edge wear, corners bumped, ex-library copy with usual library markings and mylar cover with top layer removed leaving the underlayment beneath the dust jacket, packaged in cardboard box for shipment, tracking on U.S. orders.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. Hardcover First Edition with dust jacket in archival protective wrapper. Book appears unused. Professional packaging and prompt shipping.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. W. W. Norton & Company, 2004. 1st printing. Tight and unmarked. 614pp. Jacket in a protective mylar cover. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo-8"-9" Tall.
Well written, compelling, and readable biography about the King who has ruled Spain for nearly thirty four years. This book is loaded with a lot of interesting trivia about King Juan Carlos I.
While this work is primarily a biography of a King, it is also an analysis of the Spanish political and social milieus.
Preston's treatment of his subject is truly "fair and balanced."
