Hugh Thomas, best known for his authoritative analysis of the Spanish
Civil War, has chosen from diaries, letters, memoirs and novels ranging
across five centuries of Madrid's history. The anthology brilliantly
evokes the drama and personalities of the past by drawing on eyewitness
accounts and commentaries from both visitors and inhabitants including
Beaumarchais, Beckford, Alexandre Dumas, Goya, Victor Hugo, Hemingway,
Napoleon and scores of others.