The Betrothed (Alessandro Manzoni, 1827 with revisions through 1842) (translated by Michael Moore)

Read on Kindle; print version is maybe 800 pages.

Story is written in first half of 19th century but the action is set in the 17th century. I read that it is considered a masterpiece and the first modern Italian novel.

I liked it a lot.  

Renzo and Lucia (local peasants, poor though Renzo is a valued silkworker) are engaged to be married, but the local priest (Don Abbondio) puts them off after a warning from some local toughs (known as bravi - a sort of henchmen for those who do activities requiring henchmen). In this case, a squirrelly noble named Don Rodrigo wanted to have Lucia in some way, and headed off the marriage.  The story goes on from there as Renzo and Lucia - seldom in the same location - try to evade Don Rodrigo and work through various other challenges.

The plague scenes are pretty compelling and certainly correlate to some Covid events. The Capuchins are presented as incredibly helpful. Fra Cristoforo helping Renzo and Lucia; they forgive Don Rodrigo.

Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, is helpful. The local priest is too scared to do his job.

Here's Gemini's summary -

Set in 17th-century Lombardy under Spanish rule, Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi) is a cornerstone of Italian literature. The story follows two silk-weavers, Renzo and Lucia, whose plans to marry are thwarted by the local tyrant, Don Rodrigo, who desires Lucia for himself. Rodrigo intimidates the cowardly priest, Don Abbondio, into refusing the ceremony, forcing the couple to flee their village.

The narrative splits as the lovers endure a series of historical calamities. Renzo travels to Milan, where he becomes caught up in bread riots and is nearly arrested, while Lucia seeks refuge in a convent, only to be betrayed by the tragic Nun of Monza and kidnapped by the powerful "Unnamed." However, Lucia’s piety sparks a miraculous moral conversion in her captor, who eventually releases her.

Their trials culminate during the devastating Great Plague of Milan (1630). After surviving the disease, Renzo finds Lucia in a plague hospital (lazzaretto). With the help of the saintly Fra Cristoforo, who releases Lucia from a vow of celibacy she made in captivity, the couple is finally reunited. The novel concludes with their marriage, symbolizing the triumph of "Divine Providence" and the resilience of the humble against the corruption of the powerful.

How the Spanish Empire was Built - a 400-Year History (Fernandez-Armesto and Lucena Giraldo, 2024)

(309 pages)

Pretty quick read; not as interesting as I expected.  Something it helped me think about - the incredible distances spanned by the "empire" - also the lack of local skilled workers or many components essential to building anything - just didn't exist in the New World. A real challenge to get anything done. 

Also interesting - we have spent a fair amount of time in areas of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Mexico that were part of the build-out effort - helps appreciate what was attempted, some of the challenges, etc.

I was reading "Two Years Before the Mast" on Kindle at the same time as reading this book, and it was quite interesting hearing the historians describe California areas and travel by ship while reading an account from early/mid 18th century. 

Here's Google Gemini's 150-word summary:

"The Spanish Empire, despite Spain's initial status as a relatively poor and disunited kingdom, grew into the largest realm the world had ever seen, spanning four continents for centuries. Beginning with Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage, Spain's drive for wealth and Catholicism led to the conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires and vast expansion across the Americas, financed by American gold and silver.

This history highlights the crucial role of "engineers"—including soldiers, priests, and master craftsmen—who built the infrastructure of roads, ports, fortifications, and missions that managed communications and sustained the overstretched global monarchy. The empire was characterized by a complex mix of oppression and collaboration, with investments in infrastructure benefiting both the Spanish crown and local elites, ultimately shaping the cultural, social, and economic realities of the modern world."

The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon, 2001)

(487 pages)

Book club selection (via NOC; session held 9 December 2017).

Protagonist Daniel - son of a bookseller - is taken by his father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books - where he takes responsibility for a novel by a certain Julian Carax.  From there the author takes us on a journey around Barcelona (with a stop in Paris) over the course of quite a few years, with the main action taking place in and around the time of the Spanish Civil War.  Involving Julian's school pals, Fermin, three women, etc., etc.

Beautifully written.  Perhaps too many plot twists - made it challenging for the author to tie it all together - but this also kept things moving along.

The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway, 1926)

Book club selection (via Nick; session held June 12, 2016).

Last read back in 2005, per here.

While I wouldn't change the ranking expressed in 2005 regarding the three Hemingway novels most familiar to me - I will say that I found this novel quite a bit more interesting than I did back then.  Not entirely sure why.  Brett and Jake with a quite-nice love story even if it never would work; other men more or less used by Brett, if perhaps willingly. Robert Cohn; the count; Mike; sidekick Bill. Romero, Montoya.  Details around Paris; contrast with Spanish national character elements.

The bullfighting sequences are entirely foreign to me - can't imagine why folks enjoy - but then there's American football, boxing, etc.

Cities of Gold - A Journey Across the American Southwest (Douglas Preston, 1992)

Nelson and Preston

Book club selection (via CPG; session held April 24, 2016).

Didn't know much about the American southwest when we moved to Arizona in 1986.  This was one of the earlier books that I read on the topic; had forgotten how much I enjoyed it.  Was very happy to have an occasion to re-read.

This book definitely had given PJ and I some ideas about road-trips - there were many trips to eastern, north-eastern, south-eastern Arizona in the mid-1990s, with five so-young children in tow - wonderful memories.

Preston got the idea that it would be useful to travel the route that Coronado took - in 1540 - up from Mexico into what became the United States.  And decided that doing it on horseback was a more faithful re-creation.  He hired "Eusebio" - a wood-cutter posing as a wrangler.  But the main companion was photographer and jack-of-all-trades Walter Nelson.

I keep thinking this book should be required reading for anyone residing in the State of Arizona - it's a travel tale (with plenty of horsey misadventures) that threads in so many elements of the state's history and geography.  He wanders around a bit - both with the horses and the editorial choices - but wasn't that the point here?

There truly is nothing like the New Mexico scenery.

San Pedro; Salt River; Coronado Highway; ranchers; tales of Apache, Navajo, Zuni, Hopi; visiting the pueblos where rather unfortunate encounters took place.  Spanish were of course looking for the seven cities of gold - this was just a few years after Cortez and Pizarro hit it big.

I found the dialogue - the voices - very authentic.

Just like the first time I read it - all I want to do is get out there.  Don't know how to make that happen however.

Velazquez and The Surrender of Breda (Anthony Bailey, 2011)

There's just something about these newspaper and magazine writers that turn to writing books - they aren't as good at it.  Not sure how to explain, it's like they try too hard.

This was interesting, but not as much as I would have expected based on the review I had seen.  Part of the problem is that Velazquez - for all his talent and wide recognition - didn't leave much behind in terms of primary sources.  The author has quite a bit of information about what Velazquez was doing at different points in his life, but cannot really bring the biography to life because he is just guessing so much of the time.

Useful ideas:

1.  Helps connect ideas about a wealthy Spain - less than a century after Columbus showed up in the Americas - with ~20 years less since the days of Martin Luther - struggling to keep control of Protestant Netherlands.  Charles V gives up, replaced by Philip II.  Bloody, unnecessary, protracted struggle.  Gave rise to the titular picture.

2.  Velazquez talent identified early; he advances to court in Madrid and is favored with royal commissions thereafter.  Loved to travel to Italy.  Took on lots of administrative tasks.  Reminded me of the stories of Bach as more or less an employee, or of Goethe taking on governing tasks in Weimar. The idea of the artist as romantic/independent/superior hadn't arrived.

3.  The famous Las Meninas - pictures in pictures.  Parents visible in mirror, watching the scene being painted by the artist . . . who is watching them . . . etc.

4.  Spain continuing to hurt itself with expulsions of Jews and "Moors".  Closed, insular, Church-dominated.

5.  Velazquez not dominant in commercial art market because his works simply don't come to market.  But considered to be highly favored.  Proust has the Duc de Guermantes buying a painting that he hopes is a Valazquez; Swann doesn't support this.

Las Meninas

God's Crucible - Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215 (David Levering Lewis, 2008)

For some reason I found this book incredibly helpful in lining up various threads running through this historical period.  It's probably been helpful to go through books like this, this, this, this, this, etc. - perhaps that gave enough background where, via this one, some pieces finally start to fit together and make some sense.

I don't know that the author had a defining theme here, notwithstanding the title.  Mostly, it's a highly readable, highly useful guide to major currents between 570 and 1215 in Rome, Persia, Arabia, (what became) Europe, with a particular focus on Spain.

Thoughts:

1.  Something like the focus on the Western Front in the two world wars - I tend to think that the Roman Empire primarily was taken down via pressure coming from Western Europe - those fierce Germanic tribes, etc.  This author points out that the real manpower was burned in the East - a long series of struggles between Rome and Persia - leaving both exhausted and weak just when Islam began.

2.  Useful discussion of the beginnings of Islam.  Seems reasonable to conclude that it thrived via conquest in a generally hostile environment and that, as with most religions, its tenets evolved as needed in the circumstances.  Violent conquest led to taxes and wealth to keep the machine going.  The territorial achievements were simply amazing.  I don't know why apologists pull quotes out of Koran and say Islam is purely a "religion of peace" - all religions, not to mention 20th-century communist country constitutions, include those kinds of quotes.  The history for all these institutions is what it is.

3.  Islamic conquerors let folks in the conquered territories practice their religions, somewhat.  But they (unlike Muslims) had to pay lots of taxes.  Which encouraged conversions.  Still, it was a more effective practice than feudalism - which didn't really involve a money economy - the king gave land grants to supportive nobles, but this was a finite supply and tended to set up the noble for future conflict.

4.   Some key dates are set forth in this review.  Reiterates early capital at Damascus, then the move to Baghdad around 762.   

5.  Spain was unique.  Visigoth Arians convert to orthodox Christianity; small part of the population, but controlling - and fired with the zeal of converts.  Mistreat Jewish population.  When the Islamic wave finally gets through the Berbers and is ready to approach the Iberian peninsula - in 711 - Jews are helpful to them. Arabs needed Berbers to take Spain; they made fast progress through a divided country. 

6.  Good discussion of Clovis (511) and Merovingians; the palace mayors that became the Carolingians.  This actually was pretty amazing - no other coherent order elsewhere in what later became Europe.  Defeat of the Arabs/Berbers at Tours in 732 (by Charles Martel, his family not yet royal); not seen as definitive halt of Islamic territorial advance at the time, but divisions among the Arabs/Berbers prevented the next invasions until after Charlemagne et al got their act together and were able to hold the line.

7.  How the western papacy - and Rome itself - hung by a thread.  All the power of old Rome had shifted east to Constantinople.  Rome sacked, population tiny.  Pope powerless other than a mostly-ignored bully pulpit.  Subordinate to Constantinople.  This could easily have turned out very differently than it did.  Carolingians weren't legitimate successors to Merovingians and decided to support the pope in exchange for the pope legitimatizing them.  Turned into a highly significant partnership.  Charlemagne gave the popes the Papal States that were a key dividing factor in Italy for the next thousand years.

8.  Islamic rulers of Spain generally tolerant - but in significant part because they didn't have the numbers to do anything else in the early going when the patterns were set.  Always a tiny minority.

9.  Sophistication in Spain compared to backwardness in Europe.  Charlemagne a truly remarkable figure - both in battle and in imposing Christianity, promoting education etc.  (Even if it barely survived him.)

10.  Charlemagne and Pope - set the pattern for mutual reinforcement of Church and State - forced conversions - orthodoxy - two wealthy power players.  But ambiguity:  which had ultimate authority?  Three-part society - those who fought, those who prayed, those who labored. 

11.   Charlemagne invades Spain to attack Muslims, but has to leave to deal with Saxon uprising.  Rearguard with loot is defeated somewhere near Pyrenees.   Year 775.  Some couple hundred or so years later, this episode becomes The Song of Roland - a hero tale that paints the Muslim as evil, supports wiping them out of Spain (and/or the overall Crusades), etc.  This becomes the template.

12.  Islamic rule in Spain for centuries, varying strength and weakness.  Cultural, architectural, agricultural, economic, educational wonders.  Kingdoms/states in northern Iberian peninsula eventually become powerful, leading to final expulsion in 1492.

13.  After Charlemagne - pretty quick breakup of the "Holy Roman Empire", Viking raids, a mess.

14.  The Islamic state in Spain (al Andalus) - different than the Baghdad branch.

Empires of the Sea - The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto (Roger Crowley, 2008)

This book was delightful in two ways. First, the baseline story - two empires with global reach duking it out via siege warfare and naval battles (using galleys) in the Mediterranean - is great. Second, the book is a different look at multiple threads read elsewhere that I've had a difficult time linking up.

Lepanto:  1571.  Just 65 years after Martin Luther; just 79 years after Columbus.

Some items:

1. It helps put Mediterranean geography in context - I've always been somewhat baffled as to the location of various islands that show up in story after story going back to Greek classics. I hadn't really thought of this sea as two separate spheres but it turns out that there is a pretty clear east/west split (running north to south from the toe of the boot - Sicily - Malta - North Africa); now I can finally keep straight (west to east): Majorca and Minorca; Corsica and Sardinia; Sicily and Malta; Crete; Rhodes; Cyprus.

2. And now I can better remember where Genoa and Venice fit, that these northern city-states surrounded Hapsburg and papal state territories, part of the reason why southern Italy is relatively undeveloped, why Italy featured cities instead of developing into a country like France or England or others.

3. Warfare that is startlingly modern - fort descriptions and gunnery positioning etc. reminded me of Verdun (described here); sophisticated cannon and other weaponry, supply arrangements, etc.

4. Yet warfare that is primitive in other ways - I didn't realize that in the 16th century naval warfare in this area was conducted via galleys - hearkening back to Ben Hur or far earlier in history. The situation had not improved about recruiting rowers; galley slaves; the disgusting conditions in which they rowed (and generally died).

5. The Ottoman siege of Malta sounded reminders to the siege of Malta in World War II, described here. Troop staging in Sicily reminded me of the Allies in World War II (described here). Same considerations of geography. etc

6. Rampant piracy - on both sides, though far more coming from the Muslim world. These folks were wrecking towns and hauling off slaves (many headed for the galleys) by the tens of thousands, with a focus on Italy, the Adriatic, Spain, France. (One can see where "the shores of Tripoli" - from the Marines' Hymn about stopping Barbary Coast pirates - could still have been an issue hundreds of years after the events in this book. And now we have Somalian pirates.) This also connected to the Vikings - the raids sounded quite similar (and southern Italy was hit up in both phases).

7. The events help put Spain in context - Moors recently ejected; but "unreliable" forced converts living oh so close to "Moorish" territory. Sounds like inquisition is in order.

8. Prescott discussed how Charles V (key Hapsburg emperor) paid little attention to Cortez; there was interest in treasure but otherwise events in the New World almost were a sideshow to events in Europe; this book puts some specifics around this. There were just a few folks sent to the New World; the bullion returned via treasure ships financed many projects and including in particular the naval warfare with the Ottomans. Cortez participated in a raid to North Africa later in life (trying to retake Algiers in 1541).

9. More context around Christianity v. Islam. This was 400+ years after the Crusades were launched. What an incredible, and incredibly ridiculous, history of fighting. Each side claiming true religion while leadership typically is pursuing far more earthly goals. And watching Christianity split with Protestant reformation. And even the Catholic domains (France and Venice) constantly cutting deals with Ottomans at the expense of Spain.

10. Vision of the Ottomans and the Hapsburgs as true world empires; only places with the $$ to put together significant armies/navies. Ottomans were so highly developed. I have this image of incompetence from all the references to the "sick man of Europe" = but that was ~300 years in the future. Ottomans were still awesome at this stage.

11. Sieges at Rhodes and Cyprus (in addition to Malta). Heroism by defenders; great stories throughout.

12. Miguel de Cervantes in the fighting at Lepanto (with Don Quixote making reference to the battle in the book). Quite the battle - 600+ ships (70% of oared vessels in entire Mediterranean in one spot); the author says the rate of slaughter (however calculated) wasn't matched until this battle in 1915. The fresco shown above shows ships in the lines of battle; compared to Trafalgar; hard to believe they could keep this many ships in order.

13. Apparently western Europe was under such pressure that finally having some success (meaning Lepanto) led to outbursts of joy; a series of famous art works by the "masters;" the story absolutely captured the popular imagination. And now there were printing presses to spread the word (and leave a huge trail for historians). The artwork at the top of the page certainly expresses a point of view as to where the religious preferences fell during the battle.

14. But as it turned out, Lepanto didn't disable the Ottomans, but broke momentum and with other events, ended efforts to go on to Rome when that seemed not only possible but likely. Attentions turned elsewhere. Spain sent a fleet to England. Burning energy fighting Protestants in Holland. Ottomans supposedly focused more on Persia, did keep going up the Danube basin (for over a century).

15. Read a lot about the Templars here; they were pretty much out of business at this point but the Knights of St. John had survived and played key roles in all this, especially on Rhodes and Malta (where they went after the Ottomans kicked them out of Rhodes).

16. Andrea Doria fought in this, along with other luminaries. Charles V apparently loved having court painters show him in war-like glory, as with this example.

History of the Conquest of Mexico (William H. Prescott, 1843)

Absolutely fascinating. This detailed history (900 pages) was released in 1843, so quite the different perspective than a current writer might take. I'm not sure how much has been debunked by subsequent scholarship but would be pretty confident that most of the book has survived

I always like the stories of different cultures coming into contact, though usually I run into this in the context of the African explorations. Prescott notes many similarities while emphasizing the differences as well. Many similar values and religious concepts; some not so similar. I much liked one of the appendices, which was a letter from an Aztec mother to her daughter (who was moving into adulthood). Other than the subservient tone toward the male figures (which wouldn't have been out of place in contemporary Europe), it read exactly like sound modern advice - sophisticated, measured, etc.

The author tells the unbelievable tale in delightful prose, very scholarly yet completely engaging. Prescott had pretty much lost his eyesight, so had to have many of the source materials read to him by others; he composed text on some sort of device for the blind. This book (and one on the Peruvian conquest that I definitely read) helped him become quite famous. We travel occasionally through Prescott, Arizona, which was the territorial capital and named for this author.

The Cortes story is pretty well known in broad strokes; this book provides the detail that makes the broad-stroke version all the more unbelievable. Some items:

1. Prescott provides immense detail about the various tribes, including why so many were willing to help Cortes against the Aztecs.

2. The characterization of Montezuma is compelling. The circumstance of the Quetzalcoatl story is uncanny. I didn't know Montezuma hosted the Spaniards for literally months.

3. The characterization of Cortes - he seemed to have pretty much incredible leadership ability (not to mention physical strength and stamina). I really didn't know anything about his post-conquest adventures (none came close to matching that success though were also very difficult).

4. Cortez has a handful of men in a land full of enemies, no maps, no knowledge of much of anything - and burned his ships so there was no turning back. There is plenty reason why that action became so famous.

5. The noche triste - and subsequent difficult retreat from Mexico to the land of their allies - this was quite the adventure. The canals and causeways made for difficult urban fighting. (I was just reading that the first poem ever submitted by Robert Frost for publication was based on this event - he was captivated by Prescott's book.)

6. Impressive that Cortes survived this, the intrigues of his fellow Spaniards, and returned to take the city. The actual reduction of the city was quite a process - ended up basically knocking down all buildings other than temples etc. that were too large to be worth the effort. and filled in the canals to give freedom of movement for cavalry, cannon, etc.

7. And then came slavery (in all but name), disease, etc. for the survivors. And some form of religious conversion.

8. Prescott had some interesting observations about the motivations of the conquerors, that they were almost a throw-back to the "knight errant" construct that already was obsolete elsewhere in Europe. But Spain was a throw-back in general; interesting course of development with Islamic presence so different than elsewhere in Europe.

Like so much history I read - but applicable to this one in particular - the story lines are more compelling than fiction. A novelist who tried to write this stuff would be ridiculed.

The Battle for Spain - The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (Antony Beevor, 1982)

I have been very interested in learning something about the Spanish Civil War because it comes up so often in other things I'm reading.

There are a number of most interesting story lines that are part of the military action, such as:

1. The fascist powers of the day (Germany and Italy) expending great energy on behalf of Franco and the nationalists. The Nazis correctly perceived this war as a great opportunity to test military equipment and tactics; no doubt this was very helpful in the early days of WWII.

2. Stalin and the Russian communists expending great energy on behalf of the republican government. But not as effectively as the Germans. Stalin's interest was in seeing that the Spanish communist party was positioned to take over the leftist coalition after the civil war; he didn't wish to provoke Hitler. It seemed that the communists - one of the largest parts of the coalition - burned so much energy on internal politicking that might have been better turned toward the military. (And odd that Stalin entered into an alliance with Hitler, if short-lived, very quickly after the civil war ended.)

3. A "non-intervention" policy by those countries that might have been thought to be interested in supporting republican Spain - leaving it pretty much alone except for Russia and the folks mentioned in the next paragraph. Places like England and the US were scared off by the large communist streak in the republican coalition, not to mention the US Catholic lobby. Over time, the republican cause lacked resources.

4. Yet the republican cause was viewed by idealists around the world as noble, to the point where "international brigades" with thousands of participants showed up to fight fascism. Amazing. But at this point in the 1930s, the Stalinist purges and excesses were not all that widely known, and unions, communists and socialists were not in disfavor (worldwide depression, etc.)

5. And a big chunk of the celebrity artists and writers were in support of republican Spain. Ernest Hemingway probably most prominent among them. For Whom the Bell Tolls is a great story, set entirely in the Spanish civil war.

6. The Guernica bombing.

7. Spanish vets show up on both sides in WWII, and it's easy to see why they would have been in demand. Republican types fought with the Russians; nationalist types helped the Nazis. There is a strong character in David Robbins' novel about Kursk - a Spanish civil war vet who was a tank expert. Etc.

8. I hadn't realized Franco was so tight with Hitler and Mussolini, or that he was running a first-class dictatorship right up into the 1960s. Retribution after the war apparently was just awful.

The book was quite good, though so detailed that I just blew through much of the military descriptions. I liked Beevor's Stalingrad (summarized here) better.

Click to enlarge:

Goya (Robert Hughes, 2003)

I read at this at the gym and much liked it.

Biographies like this are great in part because it's a unique centering for a description of the history around the subject of the biography. I'm starting to pick out more biographies like this (along the lines of the Tolstoy biography discussed here (September 4, 2006 entry); just took out one on Goethe).

Goya lived a long time and saw lots. You read a lot about the high level of repression in Spain over the centuries (including the Inquisition, which was winding down around the time Goya came around). Anyway, this seemed to lead to about the backwardness you'd expect once they'd kicked out the Muslims and Jews - and more progressive Christian folks also just left, especially after the frustration of the reforms hoped for after Napoleon's ejection. Goya himself left Spain in his old age and died in France. What a society.

Anyway, Hughes goes through Goya's early days trying to make his way out of the provinces and into Madrid (which was pretty much backwards also). He thrives, has commissions from royals and other important folk. Had a wife but never wrote about her; rumors of mistresses but nothing very compelling. Liked bullfighting. Painted some unusual subjects.

Then along came Napoleon. Hughes says the native response was the first modern guerrilla war, which may be true, who knows. The activities and tone certainly seemed like a pretty good precursor to the 20th century Spanish civil war. One of the most famous Goya works ("3rd of May") commemorates the Napeolonic struggle. It was interesting to read the Spanish perspective on this, different than the Wellington biography from a few years ago.

Goya became deaf, took on the Inquisition (but subtly). There is a Hollywood biography named "The Naked Maja" which tries to build on the mistress thing.

It was interesting to read in the paper a couple weeks ago about the expansion of the Prado in Madrid (and the extent of its collection); it was built in Goya's time but certainly not for an art museum.

Don Quixote (Miguel de Cervantes, 1605)

2005 being the 400th anniversary of this famous book, I thought it was time to read it. So I did.

Basic plot is well known - the protagonist reads too many novels about chivalry and pretty much goes out of his mind; then pursues various adventures with Sancho Panza. Dulcinea, windmills, practical jokes, etc.

I pretty much achieved nothing other than reading the stories and enjoying them (Part 2 more than Part 1, though to be honest there were plenty of slow parts). When you read about the book, there is all sort of commentary explaining why it was ground-breaking. But this is hard for me to discern while reading.

The Nobel Institute supposedly voted for this as "The Greatest Book of All Time." Wow?

Cervantes fought at Lepanto, which is pretty neat.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway, 1940)

My favorite of the Hemingway novels.

Robert Jordan (an American fighting on the side of the Republic) is assigned to blow up a bridge in the Spanish Civil War (covered in detail in this book). He works with local partisans. Pilar (steady older woman) is married to Pablo (unsteady partisan leader). Jordan falls in love with Maria. Interesting story line about Jordan's family history.

Hemingway was in Spain for much of the civil war and elements of the book supposedly are based on incidents he observed or heard about.

Like A Farewell to Arms, characters are disillusioned about war and war leadership.

Empire - How Spain Became a World Power (1492-1763) (Henry Kamen)

Per title