Spain, during its golden age, was a political giant whose influence spanned the world from Germany to the Western Pacific. The fifth edition of this title takes the reader on a journey from the earliest settlements on the Iberian Peninsula, through the influences of the Romans, the Goth and the Muslims, the traumas of expansion and the end of Empire, the bitter civil war, the Franco era and ends with an analysis of Spain today and her future in Europe as a leading member of the European Community.