1Introduction
Learn how weather, war
and disparate cultures
forged modern day Spain.Acquaint yourself with
the writers who turned
national soul searching
into literary gold.Get to know world-famous
artists and architects,
their paintings and
buildings.Discover who’s who in
Spanish music and
theatre, and learn why
flamencois so important.Meet the modern icons
of Spanish cinema and
the film-makers who bent
Franco’s rules.Absorb the Spanish
reverence for food
and wine.Decipher politics, religion,
sport and the media and
uncover the Spanish lust
for life.Speak the Culture books
give you the keys
to a nation’s culture
Investigating the people, the way they live and their
creative heroes, the series unlocks the passions and
habits that define a country. Easily digested chunks of
information, bites of knowledge and helpful lists decipher
the complexities of a foreign culture, from composers
to chefs, poets to presidents, so that you might get to
know the country as one of its own citizens.
Speak the Culture: Spainbegins with the country’s
foundations – the terrain, history and thought processes
on which the nation is built. Next we introduce you to the
creative icons that have become ingrained in the Spanish
psyche, from Velázquez to Lorca, Cervantes to
Almodóvar. Finally, we explore how the Spanish live,
revealing the passions, habits and tensions that shape
modern life. With these three strandsSpeak the Culture:
Spainunravels Spanish DNA.