Catalonia: A Cultural History

Squeezed between more powerful France and Spain, Catalonia has endured a violent history. Its medieval empire that conquered Naples, Sicily and Athens was crushed by Spain. Its geography, with the Pyrenees falling sharply to the rugged Costa Brava, is tormented, too.

Michael Eaude traces this history and it monuments: roman Tarragona, celebrated by the poet Martial; Greek Emp ries, lost for centuries beneath the sands; medieval Romanesque architecture in the Vall de Bo:i churches (a W…