J E S   S   P   R E Z   M A G A L L   N .   Soñando caminos: Moratín y la nación imaginada.  Valencia: Calambur, 2019. 379 pp.    Jesús Pérez Magallón  s newest monograph seeks to shed light on playwright  Leandro  Fernández  de  Moratín  s  contribution  to  imagining  the  nation  in  Spain, a subject that, he claims, has been underappreciated, due to the nowfamiliar scholarly biases that often result in Spanish intellectuals being left  out of conversations about the emergence of modern political ideas. Where  the Spanish Enlightenment is concerned, it is certainly true that some would  consider it anachronistic to discuss the concept of   nation.   Echoing recent  trends in scholarship, however, Pérez Magallón is eager to remind us that in  eighteenth-century Spain, geopolitical rivalries and the Bourbon push for  centralization  made  national  identity  a  relevant  topic  in  conversations  between intellectuals and administrators alike. In the case of Moratín, Pérez  Magallón sees the playwright as type of Gramscian organic intellectual who  projected  a  vision  for  a  modern  Spanish  collective  identity  through  his  cultural projects. Pérez Magallón  s book aims to reorient the reader towards  some of Moratín  s more celebrated aesthetic ideas in such a way as to see  their political undertones more overtly.   In  chapter  1,  Pérez  Magallón  revisits  the  premise  that  Leandro  Fernández de Moratín  s aesthetic ideas were an extension of those of his  father, Nicolás, in order to connect the younger Moratín to the discursive  enterprise of nation-envisioning that began in the previous century.  Both  father  and  son,  Pérez  Magallón  maintains,  were  men  committed  to  an  underlying  plan  of  reform  that  manifested  itself  within  their  cultural  creations. The author discusses, amongst other things, each Moratín  s role   804 in contributing to the development of certain symbols of national history  and  tradition.  Chapter  2  looks  at  the  relationship  between  Moratinian  neoclassical  philosophy  and  the  playwright  s  vision  for  governance  and  bourgeois morality. The main work considered is El viejo y la niña (1807);  also touched upon is Moratin  s relationship to Santo Díez Gonzalez  s failed  theater reform proposal in 1797. Chapter 3 looks at how lyric poetry may  have  also  figured  into  Moratín  s  social  and  political  ideas.  While  Moratín  didn  t compose many lyrical poems himself, Pérez Magallón contends that  the  playwright  viewed  the  lyric  as    otra  encarnación  de  una  nueva  imaginación  del  ser  nacional    (107).  The  chapter  concludes  with  an  interesting  discussion  of  Moratín  s  views  on  the  Spanish  poetry  canon,  where  Pérez  Magallón  sees    una  funcionalidad  política  evidente    (129)  in  Moratín  s attitude towards certain Golden Age poets.  Chapters  4  and  5  examine  the  oft-studied  subject  of  gender  roles  in  Moratín  s plays, and what they may have revealed about the playwright  s  imagined  national  social  order.  Not  all  of  Moratín  s  plays,  argues  Pérez  Magallón,  were  concerned  with  projecting    expectativas  utópicas    (172)  onto female characters; his plays could often portray females as victims of  misguided  paternal  authority.  A  laic  education  for  women,  the  author  suggests,  was  paramount  in  Moratín  s  musings  on  Spanish  nationhood.  Chapter 5 conversely analyzes figures of male authority in Moratín  s plays,  especially how they related to enlightenment theories of governance and  predominant  models  of  male  conduct  that  were  popular  in  eighteenthcentury  literary  discourse.  As  with  Moratín  s  feminine  characters,  Pérez  Magallón notes that the male authority figures portrayed in Moratín  s works  were hardly monolithic. While undoubtedly patriarchal, his male characters  could also be seen to convey a progressive type of masculinity characterized  by a preparedness to   asumir la responsabilidad de una nación reformada    (206).   Chapter  6  situates  Moratín  within  the  intellectual  context  of  the  Morvilliers Affair and the subsequent debates that took place about Spain  s  cultural  contributions  to  enlightenment  Europe.  Following  an  insightful  discussion  of  Black  Legend  discourse,  one  that  includes  lesser-known  French  sources  of  anti-Spanish  attitudes,  Pérez  Magallón  argues  that  Moratín himself was not immune to the   transformaciones de la conciencia  nacional   (261) provoked by foreign critiques of Spain. Gleaning Moratín  s  feelings on the matter, the author insists, requires a consideration of some  of his lesser-known writings such as his travel diaries, which Pérez Magallón  analyzes thoughtfully. For him, Moratín  s commentary on quotidian life in  the places he visited, such as his musings on the quality of food and inns in  Italy,  lend  insight  into  his  anti-apologista  sentiments,  and  express  the   805 playwright  s view that Spain had fallen behind its neighbors on a most basic  cultural level.   Chapter 7 explores Moratín  s political leanings in light of the pejorative  label of afrancesado that was often attached to him during his time (and in  posteriority) due to his willingness to accept a post in the Bonaparte regime  during its occupation of Spain. Such a label is problematic, contends Pérez  Magallón, since many of the so-called afrancesados such as Moratín were  willing to tolerate the rule of Joseph II not because they saw him as a foreign  savior, but rather as a necessary evil that might best assure the country  s  path  to  reform.  In  his  examination  of  Moratín  s  travel  writings,  Pérez  Magallón insists that it was in fact the playwright  s admiration for England,  not  for  France,  that  stands  out  amongst  his  political  and  economic  ruminations. Pérez Magallón explores these writings further in chapter 8,  echoing  other  critics  who  have  praised Moratín  s    dominio  y  crecimiento  moderno de la prosa   (338). Once again, Moratín  s keen interest in England  is highlighted in the chapter, both as a model and countermodel to Spain:    [e]s Inglaterra que le sirve a Leandro para pensar su propio país e imaginar  un futuro diferente   (326).   Impressive in its scope and elegantly produced, Soñando la nación, and  the variety of primary sources it considers, will surely be a helpful resource  for scholars wishing to explore the political nuances of Moratín  s writings in  more depth. As an aside, while the book leaves the present reader convinced  of Moratín  s involvement in contributing to an early national imaginary in  Spain, it is less conclusive in terms of synthesizing the specific type of nation  that Moratín may have had in mind. Indeed, if there is a weakness to the  book,  it  is  its  tendency  to  often  wander  away  from  Moratín  himself  into  digressive discussions of the playwright  s contemporaries, or into lengthy  summaries  of  secondary  scholarship.  Nonetheless,  Pérez  Magallón  s  contribution  here  is  commendable.  Like  many  Spanish  authors  of  the  enlightenment  period,  the  younger  Moratín  is  often  treated  too  onedimensionally, and Pérez Magallón  s efforts to rightfully place him within  recent interdisciplinary theoretical conversations in Enlightenment Studies  will certainly be well-received.    THOMAS C. NEAL   University of Akron