PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION
For this
new edition of An Historical Essay on
Modern Spain I have maintained the 1974 text and added an epilogue
that
carries the story forward from the date in 1969 when Prince Juan Carlos
was
invested as the future king of Spain through the final years of the
regime of
General Franco and the transition to a democratic monarchy. The epilogue reinforces the thesis that the
Franco regime marked the end of an era of oligarchic rule that was
engendered
by conflicts during the Enlightenment. The Spanish landscape since the
failure
of Colonel Tejero’s anti-democratic coup in 1981 truly belongs to a new
age.
Just as the
interpretation of Spanish history presented in the original work drew
in part
on my own experiences and associations in Spain, this analysis of the
turbulent
and decisive transformation to democracy reflects my stays in the
country
during the three academic years 1975-1977 and 1979-1980 and frequent
later
visits. Countless Spanish friends have
helped me form my opinions, and my wife Valerie has always provided her
acute
observations and intuition. My gratitude
goes out to all these persons.
I also wish to thank James W. Brodman for making it possible to bring this new edition to light in the Library of Iberian Resources Online.