Andalucia ─ A Literary Guide for Travellers

Andalucia is the quintessence of Spain and yet, historically and culturally, it is surprisingly unlike the rest of the country. Its literary history began to develop with the Romans and reached an early flowering when Arabic poets drew on centuries of literary tradition, together with the landscapes and passions of Moorish Spain. Later, Prosper Mérimée, Byron and Washington Irving forged legends of exotic southern Spain that persist to this day and Spanish writers themselves captured the rich passions of Andalucian culture, from Cervantes' Seville to Lorca's 'hidden Andalucia'. With the advent of the Civil War, a new generation flocked to Andalucia and were inspired to write some of the Twentieth Century's most iconic works of literature, from Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls to Gerald Brenan's The Spanish Labyrinth and Laurie Lee's trilogy of books. As vibrant and compelling as the region itself, Andalucia: A Literary Guide for Travellers illuminates the very soul of Spain.

Andrew Edwards is a writer and the translator of two books set in Sicily by the Spanish author Alejandro Luque.Suzanne Edwards is a linguistics graduate and lecturer. She and her husband Andrew co-authored the acclaimed Sicily: A Literary Guide for Travellers (I.B.Tauris, 2014).