This year marks the 82nd Madrid Book Fair and the Instituto Coordenadas de Gobernanza y Economía Aplicada has chosen the ten best books History of Spain published last year.

He says that these “exhaustive studies” invite us to understand and reflect on our more or less recent past in all its complexity, “and allow us to explore and analyze the events and characters that have shaped our past and how they form part of our lives.” “. present time”.

“Sorority Stories”, Angela Atiensa (Editor), Marcial Pons, 2022. A work that the Coordinates Institute calls “fundamental” and which plunges us into “the exciting world of sorority in our time. Through careful research and a cross-cutting approach, this work shows us the importance of women’s solidarity in the search for relationships and opportunities. This set of studies speculates and proposes an identification of sorority and its specific historical expressions, avoiding meanings typical of modernity and presentism.”

“Energy and Politics. History of oil in Spain”, Gloria Quiroga (coordinator), books “Waterfall”. 2022. He says this new work looks at the history of the Spanish oil industry and reveals an exciting trajectory inseparable from the political, economic and social changes the country has gone through.

The evolution of this industry in Spain is especially relevant for our country, since this is a territory that at the beginning of the last century, in addition to having no oil reserves, practically did not consume oil. Despite this, the first initiatives (CAMPSA, CEPSA…) emerged in Spain since 1900, coinciding with the economic take-off of the country and with the superiority of oil as a global energy resource,” he notes.

Jacob. The Duke of Alba in the Spain of His Time, Enrique García Hernan, Chairman. 2023. Enrique García Hernán presents a “thorough investigation” that allows us to immerse ourselves in the fascinating life and legacy of Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart and Falco, Duke of Alba. The author manages to capture the essence of the historical period with its political intrigues and struggle for power. The author analyzes the character, using not only important sources from the personal archive of the Duke of Alba, but also many other sources of his contemporaries, offering a new vision of a little-known character and, above all, those difficulties that surrounded him during his life.

“Pure Game of Thrones. Godoy and Napoleon: a painful struggle for power, by Antonio Elorza, Alianza. 2023. Antonio Elorza reconstructs in this book all the subtleties of the intriguing triangle formed by Maria Luisa de Parma, Carlos IV and Manuel Godoy. Elorza, through careful investigation and impeccable handling of direct sources, analyzes in detail the dynamics of power, betrayal and over-ambition that ultimately led Spain to Napoleon Bonaparte. This “pure game of thrones” traces the political complexities and historical implications of this intriguing power triangle.

“Art, money and power. Twelve Great States in Spanish History, José Maria Rondon, Lid editorial. 2023. Journalist José María Rondon delves into the biographies of warriors, conquerors, aristocrats, politicians, bankers and businessmen in his book Art, Money and Power to analyze the influence of art on these historical figures. With meticulous prose and illustrative examples, Rondon provides a thorough analysis of the lives of twelve men who amassed power and wealth, examining how art at some point went through its trajectories with varying consequences. The work invites the reader to immerse themselves in these life stories, contemplating both the light and the inevitable shadows, demonstrating that artistic fact transcends the obvious.

Empire of Engineers. History of the Spanish Empire through its Infrastructure”. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto and Manuel Lucena Giraldo, Taurus. 2022 This book introduces the reader to the exciting world of technology and its impact on history. Using a rigorous and engaging approach, Felipe Fernández-Armesto and Manuel Lucena Giraldo recount the achievements and challenges of the great engineers who built empires and changed the course of humanity. From building iconic monuments to building vital infrastructure, the work invites us to reflect on the transformative power of engineering and its enduring legacy in the world we live in.

Miguel Primo de Rivera. Dictatorship, Populism and the Nation. Alejandro Quiroga, critic. 2022 “This definitive biography challenges traditional narratives and provides a new perspective on one of the most influential and controversial figures in 20th century Spain. In this work, Alejandro Quiroga demystifies the image of Primo de Rivera as a simple man without a clear ideology and shows us a leader who promoted a nationalistic, authoritarian and deeply repressive regime in line with other European dictatorships of the time. A work that is necessary not only to understand the history of Spain in the last century, but also to understand the key factors of modern politics, such as populism and nationalism,” emphasizes the Coordinating Institute.

“Crosses of Memory and Forgetting”, Miguel Angel del Arco, Criticism. 2022. “A revealing book that draws on the permanent memory of the Spanish Civil War during the Franco regime through the thousands of monuments erected across the country since the beginning of the dictatorship. Miguel Ángel del Arco Blanco analyzes the significance of these government-controlled monuments that perpetuated the myth of the “fallen of God and Spain” and established a dichotomy between good and bad Spaniards. An important work for those interested in understanding the relationship between memory, propaganda and power in the context of Francoism, as well as for those who want to study the lasting influence of these monuments in shaping the landscape and historical narrative of Spain,” the organization said in a statement.

Heresy and Society. The Inquisition in the Latin American World”, Doris Moreno and Manuel Peña (Coordinators), Comares. 2022. Doris Moreno is coordinating this work, which offers a multifaceted view of the Inquisition in the Latin American world, exploring not only the structures and practices of this institution, but also the complexity of the people who were immersed in it. On its pages, the reader will meet characters who, although they did not reject authority, were looking for alternatives in order to survive under the rule of the Inquisition. The book invites the reader to understand the history of heresy and orthodoxy from a broader and more subtle point of view, emphasizing the importance of considering various factors in order to fully understand this historical phenomenon.

‘They. Students of the women’s residence, Encarnación Lemus, President. 2022. In this study, Encarnación Lemus reconstructs the story of women from the provinces who moved to a student residence in Madrid to study in the Spanish capital in the 1920s. During this period, the restriction that prevented Spanish women from accessing higher education was lifted, signifying important progress towards equal opportunities. Although there were initially few women in universities, during this decade the Residencia de Señoritas succeeded in creating a new model for women. The work introduces the reader to the events and social changes that took place during that period, offering a detailed insight into this important milestone in the history of education and women’s rights in Spain.

According to Jesús Sanchez Lambas, Executive Vice President of the Institute of Coordinates, “Modern history in the hands of researchers and disseminators of the last 50 years has penetrated our essential reality, moving from chronological and stereotyped histories to the analysis of the social environment. the political and economic conditions surrounding great events, and that so many times these circumstances have been the determining factors of facts presented with literary quality and scientific rigor. It is this penetrating and complex vision of reality that sheds light on our current reality and what we can expect in the near future.”