'Spain is different' was for a long time the explanation proffered by historians when they sought to explain the course of the nation's exceptionally rich and varied history. Spain was the only region in the medieval West (along with Sicily) to experience Islamic conquest; the first nation to lay claim to a global empire and the first to lose it; and the country in which the extreme forces of the Left and the Right were to act out one of the bloodiest confrontations Europe has known. Some argued that it was because Spain's 'historical destiny' was seemingly so far out of step with that of its neighbours that the country failed to keep up, politically, socially and economically, with the rest of Western Europe. Today, however, as Spain has become firmly integrated into the political and economic structures of the European Union, the long-held notion that the country is a nation apart no longer seems valid. Simon Barton probes the extent to which Spain should be regarded as an exceptional case and provides a highly readable, lucid and balanced account of its vibrant and colourful history, from its origins to the present day.