Customer Reviews
Thorough, well-researched but occasionally a bit dry - By: , 30 Mar 2004 
This lengthy volume details the history of Barcelona from its Roman beginnings right through to the start of the Spanish civil war. Hughes' attention to detail & thorough research makes this the definitive book about Barcelona & an essential must-read for those with an interestin the city. As someone who has livedin Barcelona for a year, I read this hoping to learn more about my home city. I was not disappointed, & felt like this book thoroughly covered all aspects of Barcelona's immense & fascinating history. However, I felt the book could have been shorter & was probably too long & intense for a casual tourist. Occasionally there is information overload, with Hughes citing numerous dates & names that detract from the readability of the book. His style can also often be fairly dry & sometimes the reading was heavy going. Unfortunately, Hughes does not cover Barcelona during the civil war & Franco's regime, a period which greatly defined the city as Barcelona was the last remaining stronghold to Franco's advancing army. This book was also published before the 1992 Olympic games had taken place. While mentioning the preparations that were going on before the city hosted the games, unfortunately, there is only a sketchy descriptionin the first chapter of how this might affect the city & changes that were being made. There is scant mention of modern day Barcelona, a shame as so much has happenedin the last 10 years, particularly during the aftermath of the games, which completely changed the character of Barcelona once again. I would thoroughly recommend this book to someone with a great interestin the city or for someone who will spend a lengthy amount of time here, as you will learn many small details & interesting titbits which you won't findin the guidebooks. For other readers, I would probably suggest something lighter like Colm Toibin's Homage to Barcelona. Hughes' book definitely camein very handy for my uni essay on Gaudi & Barcelona!
a very complete book on the city of Barcelona. - By: , 24 Feb 2001 
i have been livingin Barcelona for over 5 years. This has been my guide book over the city. If you would like to know about the city, its history, culture, monuments & life styles, this is a must read book. You will be drawn to the city by Robert Hughes.
