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Northern Spain including Barcelona

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXSPN262. Buy these 5 items as a set for $89 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Footprint Guide Northern Spain

Footprint Guide Northern Spain

by Andy Symington

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 556 PAGES

A detailed, comprehensive guide published in Britain, nicely divided between a general overview of the region and practical travel detail on where to go and what to do. (SPN233, $24.95)

Spain, The Root and the Flower

Spain, The Root and the Flower

by John A. Crow

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 455 PAGES

Take this book with you to Spain: it's an absorbing, well-written account of Spanish cultural history from prehistory to the Romans, Jews, Moors, Golden Age and on to Franco and his legacy in modern Spain. (SPN13, $29.95)

The Basque History of the World

The Basque History of the World

by Mark Kurlansky

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

Popular author Mark Kurlansky offers an engaging portrait of the seven provinces of Basque Land, discussing everything from language to culinary heritage and seafaring traditions. (SPN116, $16.00)

Homage to Catalonia

Homage to Catalonia

by George Orwell

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1987
  • PAPER
  • 234 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Orwell's portrait of the Barcelona uprising and the spirit of a city at war is a classic, an observant and heartfelt report from the streets. (SPN03, $14.00)

Spain & Portugal Map

Spain & Portugal Map

by Michelin Travel Publications

  • 2011
  • MAP

A colorful, shaded relief map of the entire Iberian Peninsula at a scale of 1:1,000,000. With an index of principal place names. (SPN22, $11.95)

 
Northeast Spain Map, Aragon Cataluna, Andorra

Northeast Spain Map, Aragon Cataluna, Andorra


by Michelin

  • MAP

This regional map (1:400,000) covers from Pamplona and Perpignan to Barcelona and the Mediterranean, south to Valencia. (SPN112, $12.95)

Eyewitness Guide Barcelona & Catalonia

Eyewitness Guide Barcelona & Catalonia


by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this superbly illustrated guide features color photography, dozens of local maps and detailed information on the region's attractions. (SPN121, $20.00)

Fodor's Barcelona's 25 Best

Fodor's Barcelona's 25 Best


by Fodors

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 96 PAGES

This handy pocket guide includes an excellent map and essential information for a making the most of a short visit. (SPN136, $11.99)

Footprint Bilbao and the Basque Lands

Footprint Bilbao and the Basque Lands


by Andy Symington

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

A small, handy pocket guide to the Basque region of northern Spain, with listings of attractions (including a section on the Guggenheim Bilbao), accommodations and cuisine. (SPN311, $9.95)

Life and Food in the Basque Country

Life and Food in the Basque Country


by Maria Jose Sevilla

  • FOOD
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 170 PAGES

A portrait of Basque life as seen through the people who practice its culinary traditions. Each chapter profiles the ways and history of the Basque butcher, fisherman, housewife, kaiku-maker or society cook, with some traditional recipes. (SPN125, $14.95)

A Traveller's History of Spain

A Traveller's History of Spain


by Juan Lalaguna

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

A swift survey from prehistory through the Romans, Goths and Moors to the present. (SPN06, $14.95)

Barcelona

Barcelona


by Robert Hughes

  • HISTORY
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 570 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

A Longitude favorite, this big, thoroughly enjoyable cultural history of the city touches on architecture, art, religion and literature from Roman outpost to the present. (SPN01, $21.00)

Ghosts of Spain

Ghosts of Spain


by Giles Tremlett

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 396 PAGES

Tremlett captures the Spanish character, history and modern politics in this masterful portrait, interweaving the story of his love for the country (where he has lived for 20 years) with interview, anecdote and observation. (SPN323, $18.00)

The New Spaniards

The New Spaniards


by John Hooper

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 458 PAGES

A survey of the cultural, political and economic changes in Spain since the death of Franco. An authoritative and compelling look the everyday life of Spaniards. (SPN08, $16.00)

Frank O. Gehry Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa

Frank O. Gehry Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa


by Ralph Richter | Kurt Forster

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1998
  • HARD COVER
  • 56 PAGES

A photographic tribute to Gehry's architectural masterpiece, the Guggenheim Bilbao, with an introductory essay by Kurt Forster, a selection of floor plans and full-page color photographs of the museum. (SPN103, $39.00)

Painting in Spain 1500-1700

Painting in Spain 1500-1700


by Jonathan Brown

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 283 PAGES

Velazquez and El Greco are but a few of the Spanish artists discussed in this in-depth study of the art produced during Spain's golden age. (SPN183, $40.00)

Barcelona, The Great Enchantress

Barcelona, The Great Enchantress


by Robert Hughes

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES

Written ten years after Hughes's book Barcelona, this is a personal exploration of the history, art and architecture of the city. (SPN227, $12.95)

Don Quixote

Don Quixote


by Miguel de Cervantes | John Rutherford

  • LITERATURE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 1072 PAGES

The most famous work in Spanish literature, rendered in a lively, modern translation. It is the picaresque tale of a romantic, mad gentleman who imagines himself a knight errant. (SPN23, $14.00)

Everything but the Squeal

Everything but the Squeal


by John Barlow

  • LITERATURE
  • 2008
  • HARD COVER
  • 256 PAGES

Barlow, his wife (from Galicia but a vegetarian) and young son gallavant from roadhouse to fine dining establishments, villages and cities in this endearingly offhand, loving account of travels in honor of pork. A delightful, witty guide to the traditions, culinary and otherwise, of the region. (SPN368, $25.00)

For Whom the Bell Tolls

For Whom the Bell Tolls


by Ernest Hemingway

  • LITERATURE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 471 PAGES

Hemingway's great novel about the Spanish Civil War is a love story set during the four-day fight of anti-fascist units in the mountains. (SPN19, $16.00)

Spain in Mind

Spain in Mind


by Alice Powers

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 372 PAGES

This literary A-to-Z includes selections by Auden, Hemingway, Michener, Twain, Orwell, Trollope, Wharton and other luminaries. (SPN290, $15.95)

Spain, A Traveler's Literary Companion

Spain, A Traveler's Literary Companion


by Peter R. Bush

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 242 PAGES

These 30 short stories form a who's who of contemporary Spanish literature, including writers from Galicia, Leon, the Basque Country, Madrid and Barcelona. (SPN173, $13.95)

The Shadow of the Wind

The Shadow of the Wind


by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 512 PAGES

Set in the brooding atmosphere of post-WW II Barcelona, this gripping story-within-a-story has it all: murder, doomed love and a mysterious book which draws the young hero, Daniel Sempere, into the city's dangerous underworld. (SPN298, $16.00)

Birds of Europe

Birds of Europe


by Lars Svensson

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Featuring 3,500 glorious paintings by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrom, the second revised edition of this exquisite guide has been brought up to date with revised text and maps. (FG47, $29.95)

Wildflowers of Britain and Europe

Wildflowers of Britain and Europe


by Margaret and Roland Spohn

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Over 450 species of wild flower are covered, each beautifully illustrated with detailed paintings and clear photographs. (EUR46, $21.95)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.