In Barcelona we stood before the sarcophagus of a saint buried 1,000 years ago. History is what makes a place come alive. Carr's book makes Spain come alive. Ferdinand and Isabella rule, sending Columbus to discover new worlds. Philip III expels virtually all descendants of the Moors.
Empires begin to sink.
Spain continues to sink and grow, sink and grow, with ebbs and flows throughout the years. It concludes discussing where Spain is today and where it may be headed in the near-distant future. A History will be used in colleges across the country as a textbook in various history classes. But don't be fooled. It is not a textbook in the traditional sense, i.e., boring, stuffy, overladen with facts.