Catalonia: A New History revises many traditional and romantic conceptions in the historiography of a small nation. This book engages with the scholarship of the past decade and separates nationalist myth-history from real historical processes. It is thus able to provide the reader with an analytical account, situating each historical period within its temporal context. Catalonia emerges as a territory where complex social forces interact, where revolts and rebellions are frequent. This is a contested terrain where political ideologies have sought to impose their interpretation of Catalan reality.
This book situates Catalonia within the wider currents of European and Spanish history, from pre-history to the contemporary independence movement, and makes an important contribution to our understanding of nation-making.
Chapter 1. Origins, from pre-history to the Romans
Chapter 2. New influences. Visigoths, Christianity and the Arabs, 400–800
Chapter 3. Consolidation and expansion 800–1150
Chapter 4. Aragon and the Mediterranean Empire 1150–1410
Chapter 5. Decline and revolt 1415–1660
Chapter 6. 1660–1830 Political incorporation, economic advance
Chapter 7. 1830–1939 Social conflict, national revival and ideological dispute
Chapter 8. Francoism and the democratic experience 1939–2008
Epilogue: the failed push for Catalan independence