This new reference work on Spain could serve as a model for other historical dictionaries. Among its winning features are the fact that it treats a topic on which there has not been a single general reference work in this century and that it has an experienced editor who is a noted scholar in his own right, a first-rate cast of international contributors, a judicious choice of entries, a consistent style, a superior bibliography and a good index. Reference Books Bulletin
Historians face a number of challenges in interpreting the complexities of modern Spanish history. With few authoritative works available in the field, the Historical Dictionary of Modern Spain, 1700-1988 fills the need for a comprehensive reference and summarizes the work of a new generation of Spanish research. It is unique in its wealth of detail from the eighteenth century to the late twentieth and in offering, on some topics, the only thorough discussion available in English.
Kern has included six major areas of Spanish history in this volume: political, governmental, diplomatic, institutional, cultural, social, and military. Several maps, illustrations and tables enhance the entries prepared by some seventy scholars from the United States, Canada, Britain, Spain, and Latin America. From the War of Spanish Succession to the role of Juan Carlos, the Dictionary features the latest historiographic interpretations and data. The alphabetical listings are cross-referenced to related topics and a timeline is provided to establish basic chronology. The bibliography includes the more important works on the period since 1700.
About the Author: ROBERT W. KERN is Professor of Iberian History at the University of New Mexico. He coedited European Women on the Left (Greenwood Press, 1981) and wrote Liberals, Reformers and Caciques in Restoration Spain and Red Years/Black Years: A Political History of Spanish Anarchism as well as several works on labor history.
MEREDITH D. DODGE is Assistant Editor at the Vargas Project at the University of New Mexico. Her most recent edited work, in collaboration with Peter J. Bakewell and John J. Johnson, was the two-volume Readings in Latin American History.
