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.

David Ringrose here re-examines the history of Spain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He challenges the pessimism of prevailing assumptions about Spanish history, and its conventional separation into pre- and post-Napoleonic eras. Spain, Europe, and the 'Spanish Miracle', 1700-1900 also questions the importance of the empire for Spain's own economy, suggesting instead that Spain evolved as part of Europe; indeed, some of the recently documented modernisation of the nineteenth century was already well under way in the eighteenth. In addition, the emergence of a governing elite closely tied to provincial society is placed in the context of traditional networks of patronage based upon close-knit family ties. Such a perspective makes the transitions of the 1930s and 1970s easier to explain. This important and challenging book will change our understanding of the history of modern Spain.