Reading List

To make your journey more enjoyable you, may wish to read about the areas we’ll be visiting and about Spain in general. If these are not available in your local library or bookstores most are available via the internet at www.amazon.com, Adventure Travel Bookstore (1800 282 3963 in US and Canada) or Mountaineers Books (1800 553 4453 - mbooks@mountaineers.org). Also look for the website: www.wild-spain.com for information and interesting articles on outdoor Spain.

 

SPAIN

Walking in Spain Walking in Spain (Lonely Planet, 1999, 2003). Miles Roddis, Nancy Frey, Jose Placer, Matt Fletcher and John Noble.
  • On Foot in Spain owners, Nancy Frey and Jose Placer, have chapters on Galicia, Cordillera Cantábrica (Picos de Europa), the Basque Country and the Camino de Santiago. The 2003 book covers all of Spain but not the Canary Islands.
Walking in Spain
Foster, Nelson and Linda S. Cordell, ed. 1996. Chilies to Chocolate: Food the Americas Gave the World. University pf Arizona Press.
Kerper, Barrie. 2003. Northern Spain. The Collected Traveller. NY: Three Rivers Press.
  • A good collection of articles covering parts of Spain hard to find information about in English including Galicia, Asturias, the Basque Country and Cantabria
Measures, John. 1992. Wildlife Travelling Companion: Spain. Wiltshire: Crowood Press.
  • A general guide on flora and fauna of Spain good if your travelling across the country but not a specialist’s guide.
Hooper, John. The New Spaniards. Penguin. 1997.
  • Hooper manages to provide a well-balanced accounting of Spain as it is today and why.
Lalaguna, Juan. A Traveller’s History of Spain. 1996
  • Excellent, compact summary of Spain’s complex history.
Crow, John A. 1985. Spain. The Root and the Flower. Berkeley : UC Press.

 

GALICIA

Casas, Penelope. 1997. Spain’s Green Corner. New York Times Travel. April 27, p. 12, 29.
  • Good general overview of Galicia’s coastal highlights.
Frey, Nancy. 2004. Galicia. Coastal Corner. Spanish Magazine. June (Issue 5), pp. 16-25
  • An article describing Galicia and its highlights from Nancy’s perspective as someone who has lived in the region since 1997.
Frey, Nancy. 2003. Serra do Courel: Galicia’s Wild Frontier. Read it here.
  • Here I describe the beautiful range south of the O Cebreiro pass with an emphasis on the geology, flora and fauna.

 

PICOS DE EUROPA

Ena Alvarez, Vicente. 1996. In the Picos de Europa (Translation from Spanish). Leon: Edilesa.
  • General book on the Picos.
Browning, Frank. 1998. The Apple of Spain’s Eye. San Francisco Examiner. Travel Section. Sept 13, pp. T-1, T-4, T-5.
  • Travel article on Asturian sidra

 

CAMINO DE SANTIAGO

Coffey, Thomas F., Linda Kay Davidson and Mary Jane Dunn. 1996. The Miracles of St James. New York: Italica.

  • First English translation of the 22 miracles of St James found in the Codex Calixtinus.
Davies, Horton and Marie Helene. 1982. Holy Days and Holidays. The Medieval Pilgrimage to Santiago.

  • Historical account of the medieval pilgrimage during it’s heyday.
Pilgrim Stories Frey, Nancy. 1998. Pilgrim Stories. On and Off the Road to Santiago. Modern Journeys Along an Ancient Way in Spain. Berkeley: UC Press.
  • Anthropological analysis of the contemporary Camino bringing to life the multitude of experiences of the modern day traveller written for the general reader and scholar alike.
Gitlitz, David M. and Linda Kay Davidson. The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago. The Complete Cultural Handbook. St. Martin's. 2000.
  • Its title says it all. This is an indispensable cultural guide to the Camino's art, architecture, history, folklore, flora and fauna.
Hitt, Jack. 1994. Off the Road. NY: Simon & Schuster.
  • A very humorous personal account of Hitt’s 1993 walk to Santiago.
Hoinacki, Lee. 1996. El Camino. University Park: Penn State Press.
  • A modern day personal account of a man’s spiritual development while walking to Compostela.
Jacobs, Michael. 1991. Northern Spain. The Road to Santiago de Compostela. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
  • An architectural guide for travellers.
Winchester, Simon. 1994. The long, sweet road to Santiago de Compostela. Smithsonian 24 (11): 64-75.

  • Very readable article about the author’s experience on the road.

 

BASQUE COUNTRY & PYRENEES

Kurlansky, Mark. 1999. The Basque History of the World. Walker & Company.
  • A very readable description of the Basque people from prehistory to the present day. A major flaw is his reading of the Basque terrorist organization, ETA, which is slanted, irresponsible and sympathetic to the terrorists.
 
Gallop, Rodney. 1970. A Book of the Basques. University of Nevada Press.
  • Excelent collection and analisys of Basque folklore from song to dance to witchcraft.
Busca Isusi, José María, 1987. Traditional Basque Cooking: History and Preparation. University of Nevada Press.

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea ;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.

JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit

 

"Maybe these places we visit are ways to get at something that’s not really concrete at all, but a place inside ourselves. We need to fill a void, to counter a loss, real or imagined, to seek through outward manifestation some inner peace that’s lacking". –W. P. Kinsella

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