Tag Archives: Spain

Davita’s Harp

Posted on March 21, 2021 by smellincoffee

Davita’s Harp© 1985 Chaim Potok384 pages Are you a Jew?  Ilana Davita Chandel  gets that question a lot. It’s lobbed at her from Irish and Italian street toughs, and from inquisitive neighbors who see  her swimming on the Sabbath.  Is … Continue reading →

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Fire and Blood

Posted on June 20, 2018 by smellincoffee

Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico © 1973 T.R. Fehrenbach675 pages Fire and Blood is an epic history of Mexico, one that begins at the dawn of time and takes its time moving on.  Case in point: the 20th century is … Continue reading →

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The Age of Napoleon

Posted on August 17, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Age of Napoleon© 1975 will Durant870 pages Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me – or didn’t.  Will and Ariel Durant intended for Rousseau and Revolution to be the final volume in their epic … Continue reading →

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Cities of Gold

Posted on August 3, 2017 by smellincoffee

Cities of Gold: A Journey Across the American Southwest in Pursuit of Coronado© 1992 Douglas Preston (Walter Nelson, Photographs)480 pages Sometimes, history has got to be pursued from the back of a horse.  Douglas Preston wasn’t sure what took him … Continue reading →

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Rousseau and Revolution

Posted on August 2, 2017 by smellincoffee

Rousseau and Revolution© 1957 Will and Ariel Durant1092 pages “…little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor, and of … Continue reading →

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The Mexican Frontier

Posted on July 27, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Mexican Frontier 1821 – 1846: The American Southwest Under Mexico©  1982 David Weber (University of New Mexico Press)440 pages In 1821, the people of Mexico declared their independence from Spain, recognizing that its Napoleonic straits meant that the mother … Continue reading →

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Spain in the Southwest

Posted on May 5, 2017 by smellincoffee

Spain in the Southwest: A Narrative History© 2013 John Kessell480 In the early 1500s, the Spanish triumphed over the Aztecs and established a new Spain — an empire forged out of the new world.  The equatorial tropics were only the … Continue reading →

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The Armada

Posted on April 21, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Armada© 1959 Garrett Mattingly443 pages In the late summer of 1588, all of Europe held its breath as an enormous Spanish fleet, consisting of a hundred and fifty vessels of varying sizes, set sail for the English channel. Their … Continue reading →

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Sister Queens

Posted on April 16, 2017 by smellincoffee

Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of  Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castille480 pages© 2011 Julia Fox Virtually any reader of Tudor fiction is familiar with the sad story of Queen Catherine,  the lawful wife of Henry VIII … Continue reading →

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La Florida

Posted on March 29, 2017 by smellincoffee

La Florida: Five Hundred Years of Hispanic Presence©  2016 Viviana Díaz Balsera & Rachel A. May312 pages Florida, like many places in the United States, bears the name given to it by another culture.  The Spanish, setting first foot on … Continue reading →

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