Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow

The Story of Spanish

2013 

An informative and entertaining chronicle of the Spanish language from its origins when the Phoenicians first settled the Iberian Peninsula around 800 B.C. until today. A good overview of Spanish and Latin American history, culture and literature and it also touches on telenovelas and the development of Spanglish. It starts off with an interesting explanation of how the name España morphed through the centuries from a Phoenician word meaning ‘land of the rabbits’.

 

(One does not need to speak Spanish in order to enjoy the book.)