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Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country's Hidden Past - Giles Tremlett
by Starlight81
I thought this would be an interesting read, since I've been living in Spain for about three and a half months now, and it mostly was.
The book is divided into thirteen chapters, each of which deals with a different aspect of Spanish culture, at least in theory.
The first few chapters deal with the Civil War and the ... Franco years. They also give some insight into the way in which the Spanish have (or haven't) today dealt with the responsibilities many of their relatives, or even they themselves, hold for what happened during those years, and particularly during the Civil War, when many atrocities were committed by both sides. It also goes some way towards explaining how Spain went from being a fascist regime to a democracy- the way this happened is unique, at least in European history.
The next seven or eight chapters deal with aspects of contemporary Spanish culture, from Flamenco and the role of the gypsies in Spain, to ETA and the Basque view of Spain- I should be careful about putting 'ETA' and 'the Basque view of Spain' together- as the author points out, there's a big difference between nationalism and terrorism.
The author, Giles Tremlett, is a journalist currently working as the Guardian's Madrid correspondent, so he's able to give an insightful, outsider's perspective, whilst at the same time understanding far more about Spanish culture than the average Brit. The book was written in 2006, so it's about as up-to-date as it could be.
There are only two only drawback to this book: one is that it's nowhere near as accessible as something by Bill Bryson, to take a popular example. It feels almost as if you have to be a historian in order to get the full experience from reading it, so it's not exactly a book for the layman.
However, although reading the whole thing from cover to cover is a bit of a hard slog, it's certainly worth flicking through to find the bits that would most interest you, as there are some gems hidden in there if you want to better understand Spain.
The other problem, which is related, is, I think, down the fact that it's written by a journalist, rather than a previously published author. This means that the overall structure of the book is quite weak. Each chapter feels like a self-contained article, which in itself isn't a bad thing, but the problem starts when the same things are repeated several times over in different chapters.
I personally preferred the second half of the book. These are just a couple of the interesting facts I read in the latter half of the book (without giving too much away!):
'Life expectancy [of gypsies] is reported to be almost ten years lower than for other Spaniards, while only 1 per cent of gypsies go to university.'
'There are said to be more than 138,000 bars in Spain. This is as many as the rest of western Europe put together.'
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Berlitz Turkish Phrase Book and Dictionary
by loulou129
hello dooyooers, im finally back after a tough time trying to sort out a few thing for uni ...rather excited i may add lol but here we go with a new review of a product i used on my trip to Turkey during the summer.
I did not purchase this book, I borrowed it from the local library, which I would probably recommend doing if ... your just going to visit Turkey for a short break and want a few handy phrases as the book can vary in price from place to place but is usually around 6 pound which if you borrow the book is 6 pound more you can spend on your holiday. However, I feel this is an excellent product and if you do wish to purchase it, this is deffinatley worth the money as it includes everything you need to know.
Ok the book is pretty much what you see in the picture, its a very handy size probably smaller than A5 so fits perfectly in your handbag or backpack which has probably been designed to do this but me being a bit ditzy thought it was great how coinsidental it was.
The book is split into sections, each section has a starting vocab for important phrases which can normally be found in a box coloured in a darker version of the sections colour e.g. getting around could be a blue section and the important vocab will be in a dark blue box on the first page. Following this is all the essential phrases and words you will need, the Turkish words are written in the sections colour and the english are written in black so theyre easily distinguishable, the turkish is also written in a bold font.
As I dont have the book in front of me as I had to take it back to the library I cant tell you the exact sections in the book but I will try and reel off a few i can remember ; travel, food and drinks, dating, tourist attractions ... I know there were a few more but im really sorry I cant remember them.
Overall I would rate this book very highly if your hoping to pick up a few handy phrases for your visit to Turkey, I am sorry this wasnt a longer review but as I said I dont have the book handy because I decided to be savvy and save a few quid by borrowing it from the library, the only downside of which was having to return it.
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