Spain, Europe, and the 'spanish Miracle', 1700}}}1900 [Paperback]

A challenging re-examination of Spanish history, questioning orthodoxies about Spain's economy and society.In his important new study, David Ringrose re-examines the history of Spain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He challenges the conventional ways of framing that history, questions the importance of the empire for peninsular Spain, and suggests that some of the seemingly dramatic modernization of the nineteenth century was already under way in the eighteenth. In addition, the emergence of a governing elite is placed in the context of family and patronage networks. This challenging book will change our understanding of the history of modern Spain.In his important new study, David Ringrose re-examines the history of Spain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He challenges the conventional ways of framing that history, questions the importance of the empire for peninsular Spain, and suggests that some of the seemingly dramatic modernization of the nineteenth century was already under way in the eighteenth. In addition, the emergence of a governing elite is placed in the context of family and patronage networks. This challenging book will change our understanding of the history of modern Spain.In his important new study, David Ringrose reexamines the history of Spain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He challenges the conventional ways of framing that history, questions the importance of the empire for peninsular Spain, and suggests that some of the seemingly dramatic modernization of the nineteenth century was already under way in the eighteenth. In addition, the emergence of a governing elite is placed in the context of family and patronage networks. This challenging book will change our understanding of the history of modern Spain.Part I. The Problems of Perception: 1. Perceptions and perspectives; 2. Focusing the problem; 3. Glimpses of the Spanish economy; Part II. Peninsular Spain and a Changing World: 4. The Indies trade and a penil³g