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Preface This narrative history of Spain for students and nonstudents alike re- flects what educated Spaniards tend to know of their history. I hope the bibliography will prove useful to those who want to learn more. Although politics receives the chief emphasis, I have tried to weave into the text the concurrent history of society, religion, culture, and economics because people experience their history as a whole. Spain is a country with powerful appeal and an exceptional history. Travel posters once proclaimed: España es diferente (“Spain is differ- ent”). I first visited Spain during 1956–1958, while serving in the U.S. Navy. I returned as a student in the summer of 1963 and spent 1964– 1966 there as a Fulbright scholar. Since then I return to Spain every two or three years, and in my research and travel I have visited every part of the country. This second edition picks up where the first edition left off in the early 1990s, covering the more recent events of the twenty-first cen- tury. The Timeline of Historical Events, Notable People in the History of Spain, and the Bibliographic Essay have been updated. All chapters have been revisited and updated, and an expanded last chapter covers Spain’s successful transition from dictatorship to democracy and its history and life into 2019.