In the first major study in English of Spanish agrarian history, James Simpson examines how traditional agriculture responded to population growth and the integration of commodity markets. He argues that decisive changes in farming techniques only occurred at the start of this century; development was then interrupted by the Spanish Civil War and subsequent short-sighted government policies, only resuming in the 1950s. This comprehensive study will be of relevance to historical geography and agrarian history, as well as economic history.

In this distinctive new history of the origins of the Spanish Civil War, James Simpson and Juan Carmona tackle the highly-debated issue of why it was that Spain's democratic Second Republic failed. They explore the interconnections between economic growth, state capacity, rural social mobility and the creation of mass competitive political parties, and how these limited the effectiveness of the new republican governments, and especially their attempts to tackle economic and social problems within the agricultural sector. They show how political change during the Republic had a major economic...