Essential History | The people, places and events that have shaped our history and culture
The people, places and events that have shaped our history and culture
Conflict and ConquestConsolidationThe arrival of the Roman Empire in the Iberian Peninsula resulted from struggles for dominance in the western Mediterranean with the Carthaginian Empire, located in present-day Tunisia Despite the efforts of Hannibal in leading a force across the Strait of Gibraltar up through Spain and into Italy during the so-called Punic Wars, Carthage [...]
Delighted that my new book is published and available via high street and online retailers plus direct from the publisher. To find out more please see the video, synopsis, highlights and a link to purchase below. Thank you! https://videopress.com/v/3deU58Ll?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true Synopsis: From the Arab conquest to ‘la Movida Madrileña’, the culture of Madrid is shaped by [...]
Having invested heavily in the fleet lost at Trafalgar, due to errors by the French Admiral Villeneuve and an instruction to ‘never surrender to superior forces without reaching glory in brave resistance’, Spain was financially broke. In 1807, French forces were invited into Spain in order that Napoleon could attack Britain’s ally Portugal, Spain hoping [...]
Manzanares el Real is a town thirty miles north of Madrid and a starting point for hiking in the Sierra de Guadarrama, the mountain range that curves north around Madrid with summits peaking at more than 6000 feet. This post covers a low-level walk out of the town, following the River Manzanares into the sierra. [...]
The world’s first university city, serving as a model for the rest of Europe, and the birthplace of Spain’s most feted author, Miguel de Cervantes, Alcala de Henares is a medieval city twenty miles north-east of Madrid. In the city’s Archbishop’s Palace, Christopher Columbus received his commission from the Catholic Monarchs to sail west in [...]