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Sails and Winds: A Cultural History of Valencia
The towns of Valencia's long coast and privileged climate, in particular Benidorm, southern Europe's skyscraper capital, are famous beach tourism destinations. Country of fire, fireworks and long meals (often featuring the renowned paella), Valencia is a Mediterranean land where people know how to enjoy life. This book tells the story of today's Spanish provinces of Valencia, Castelló and Alacant (Alicante), with their profound Moorish legacy. The Moors designed the intricate system of irrigation that still nourishes Valencia's prosperous horta (market garden). They brought, too, the silk, paper and orange industries. The area is rich in monuments, many from its golden fifteenth century, when the capital became the wealthiest city on the Western Mediterranean. Sails & Winds discusses Sagunt's Roman theatre and castle; Gandia, home to the ill-reputed Borja (or Borgia) family of popes; Elx, embraced by 200,000 palms; and Alcoi, anarchist stronghold. Michael Eaude discusses Valencia's art, literature and the painters Ribera and light-filled Sorolla; the great medieval poet of anguish Ausiàs March. Santiago Calatrava's architecture, conjuring the sensation of soaring flight from steel, has given Valencia city its new trophy buildings. Despite the continuing holiday boom, there are still deserted beaches, sinister and beautiful marshland, orange groves and a depopulated mountainous interior. Sails & Winds seeks to explain this contradictory and divided land, its identity pulled between the Spanish state and Catalonia.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 22, 2020
Well, that's a first! I've finished a couple of books for which I was the first Goodreads reader, but this one had not even made it on to the database, so I got to add it myself! How is that possible?
I picked this one up in the New Books section of the Main Branch of the Boston Public Library, thinking that I'd thumb through its photos for memories of the trip that my son and I took to Valencia when he was studying in Barcelona in 2018. The book did bring back those memories, but it also grabbed me and obliged me to read its every word.
Michael Eaude was born in London, but lived in Gibraltar as a child. He returned to live in Barcelona in 1989 and has been there ever since. He has written a book similar to this one about Barcelona, among several other volumes. This book is part of a series of such histories, published by a small press in, of all places, Northampton, MA. I will check out others in the series.
Valencia: A Cultural History is a confession of love for a region that is clearly not the author's own. Like all lovers, he has strong opinions about the object of his affection, but he clearly loves Valencia, despite its dark history of religious exclusion, its rampant political corruption, its fascist football fans and its rape of a beautiful Mediterranean coastline in the name of tourist development.
And that's to say nothing of the tragic aftermath of Spain's Civil War. Absent that love, how could one ever immerse oneself in a place to the extent that this author dove into Valencia?
Clearly, with warts like those, a lover of Valencia must find much to recommend it. To help the reader discover the reasons for his enchantment, Eaude takes us on a fascinating tour of the entire region, from the historic center of the nation's third largest city to the virtually depopulated curiosity known as the "Rincón de Ademuz."
Eaude reminds us several times that this is not a guidebook (he recommends only one bar and one hotel in 364 pages of text), but he provides an indispensable resource for a visitor to Valencia interested in much more than a walking tour of the old city or ratings of the best beach resorts. I wish I'd carried this book with me when my son and I did our whirlwind visit.
In taking us up and down the coast and deep into the mountains of Valencia's interior, the author uses the art, literature and architecture of the region to open the door on its often-tragic history. In the beginning, what was to become Valencia only settled down when there was "no one left to massacre" And of course Eaude recognizes that, due to its historical proximity, Spain's Civil War continues to cast a shadow over the entire region. Valencia was a stronghold of Spain's Republic until the bitter end, and many of its people suffered for decades, accordingly.
This book makes no claim to neutrality on any aspect of the rich historical and cultural landscape it exposes. Eaude makes clear his perspective on the war and all of the other tensions that have defined Valencia's history. but I think he succeeds at not allowing his own view to overwhelm the portrait he is trying to present. Perhaps I can say that because I agree with him on most things.
If you are considering a visit to the region, by all means get hold of this book. How else will you know where to find a bit of the Mediterranean not fouled by high-rise hotels, understand why Pope Francis might have gotten it wrong with his off-hand reference to the sexual proclivities of Lucretia Borja and how else could you possibly arrive armed with the knowledge that the hearty homes of the Rincón de Ademuz use the wood of the sabina tree for supporting beams because it is impervious to the dreaded woodworm? And if you wish to take with you a great novel in English set in the region, our man has your well-covered on that, as well.
But I recommend the book even if, like me, you are unlikely to set foot in Valencia in what remains of this life. Because nothing tops a well-written love story, this one may conquer you as it did me.
I picked this one up in the New Books section of the Main Branch of the Boston Public Library, thinking that I'd thumb through its photos for memories of the trip that my son and I took to Valencia when he was studying in Barcelona in 2018. The book did bring back those memories, but it also grabbed me and obliged me to read its every word.
Michael Eaude was born in London, but lived in Gibraltar as a child. He returned to live in Barcelona in 1989 and has been there ever since. He has written a book similar to this one about Barcelona, among several other volumes. This book is part of a series of such histories, published by a small press in, of all places, Northampton, MA. I will check out others in the series.
Valencia: A Cultural History is a confession of love for a region that is clearly not the author's own. Like all lovers, he has strong opinions about the object of his affection, but he clearly loves Valencia, despite its dark history of religious exclusion, its rampant political corruption, its fascist football fans and its rape of a beautiful Mediterranean coastline in the name of tourist development.
And that's to say nothing of the tragic aftermath of Spain's Civil War. Absent that love, how could one ever immerse oneself in a place to the extent that this author dove into Valencia?
Clearly, with warts like those, a lover of Valencia must find much to recommend it. To help the reader discover the reasons for his enchantment, Eaude takes us on a fascinating tour of the entire region, from the historic center of the nation's third largest city to the virtually depopulated curiosity known as the "Rincón de Ademuz."
Eaude reminds us several times that this is not a guidebook (he recommends only one bar and one hotel in 364 pages of text), but he provides an indispensable resource for a visitor to Valencia interested in much more than a walking tour of the old city or ratings of the best beach resorts. I wish I'd carried this book with me when my son and I did our whirlwind visit.
In taking us up and down the coast and deep into the mountains of Valencia's interior, the author uses the art, literature and architecture of the region to open the door on its often-tragic history. In the beginning, what was to become Valencia only settled down when there was "no one left to massacre" And of course Eaude recognizes that, due to its historical proximity, Spain's Civil War continues to cast a shadow over the entire region. Valencia was a stronghold of Spain's Republic until the bitter end, and many of its people suffered for decades, accordingly.
This book makes no claim to neutrality on any aspect of the rich historical and cultural landscape it exposes. Eaude makes clear his perspective on the war and all of the other tensions that have defined Valencia's history. but I think he succeeds at not allowing his own view to overwhelm the portrait he is trying to present. Perhaps I can say that because I agree with him on most things.
If you are considering a visit to the region, by all means get hold of this book. How else will you know where to find a bit of the Mediterranean not fouled by high-rise hotels, understand why Pope Francis might have gotten it wrong with his off-hand reference to the sexual proclivities of Lucretia Borja and how else could you possibly arrive armed with the knowledge that the hearty homes of the Rincón de Ademuz use the wood of the sabina tree for supporting beams because it is impervious to the dreaded woodworm? And if you wish to take with you a great novel in English set in the region, our man has your well-covered on that, as well.
But I recommend the book even if, like me, you are unlikely to set foot in Valencia in what remains of this life. Because nothing tops a well-written love story, this one may conquer you as it did me.
June 27, 2023
A bit of an uneven book. I read it to prep for visit to Valencia and would recommend for that purpose.
May 21, 2025
Sails and Winds – A Cultural History of Valencia by Michael Eaude
Fresh from reading the author’s magnificent book on Barcelona, I was keen to read Michael Eaude’s work on Valencia. It does not disappoint.
Like his previous book, it draws heavily on his own experience living in the city, and weaves his knowledge of the local and vast area with the expert opinions and views of others. He writes, “history is not just a record of the past” and builds up the stories to present intelligent and interesting discussion with a relevant modern take.
He is well-read, quoting from both international and local authors (Ted Walker discussing the Moors to novels by Jason Webster and Rafael Chirbes). There are sights and festivals described in such flowery detail that it makes me want to travel and see them for myself. There is a Nougat museum in Xixona (Museo del Turrón) or the Nit de Foc festival (Las Fallas) added to my own list.
It is the history (Flood of 1957 in Valencia, mad emore relevant by recent tragic happenings in the region), the culture (painters Rusiňol and Benlliure, de Jaunes, Ribalta and Il Spagnoletto as well as my own favourite, Sorolla), paintings (The Bearded Lady), museums (Casa Benlliure) and novelists (Gabriel Miró, Blasco Ibáňez and Arturo Barea) and poets (W. H. Auden’s Impressions of Valencia).
In fact it was the Baroque painter Ribalta who said his homeland was “a loving mother to foreigners and a cruel stepmother to her own sons”, a fantastic yet horrendous phrase to describe Valencia and his images, inspired by Caravaggio offered a gloomy outlook. But it is Ribera, Il Spagnoletto, whose superb and original colour of Spain best reflect Eaude’s illuminating work. If “the heat of the sun and the chill of the sea” were felt in words, they would have been written by Eaude, just as no-one has painted “the light, breezes, women and children” like Sorolla and I can pay him no higher comparative compliment than that.
Fresh from reading the author’s magnificent book on Barcelona, I was keen to read Michael Eaude’s work on Valencia. It does not disappoint.
Like his previous book, it draws heavily on his own experience living in the city, and weaves his knowledge of the local and vast area with the expert opinions and views of others. He writes, “history is not just a record of the past” and builds up the stories to present intelligent and interesting discussion with a relevant modern take.
He is well-read, quoting from both international and local authors (Ted Walker discussing the Moors to novels by Jason Webster and Rafael Chirbes). There are sights and festivals described in such flowery detail that it makes me want to travel and see them for myself. There is a Nougat museum in Xixona (Museo del Turrón) or the Nit de Foc festival (Las Fallas) added to my own list.
It is the history (Flood of 1957 in Valencia, mad emore relevant by recent tragic happenings in the region), the culture (painters Rusiňol and Benlliure, de Jaunes, Ribalta and Il Spagnoletto as well as my own favourite, Sorolla), paintings (The Bearded Lady), museums (Casa Benlliure) and novelists (Gabriel Miró, Blasco Ibáňez and Arturo Barea) and poets (W. H. Auden’s Impressions of Valencia).
In fact it was the Baroque painter Ribalta who said his homeland was “a loving mother to foreigners and a cruel stepmother to her own sons”, a fantastic yet horrendous phrase to describe Valencia and his images, inspired by Caravaggio offered a gloomy outlook. But it is Ribera, Il Spagnoletto, whose superb and original colour of Spain best reflect Eaude’s illuminating work. If “the heat of the sun and the chill of the sea” were felt in words, they would have been written by Eaude, just as no-one has painted “the light, breezes, women and children” like Sorolla and I can pay him no higher comparative compliment than that.
July 16, 2024
Perfect book for those who want to learn more about the history and the present of Valencian region: Valencia, Alicante, Benidorm and others. If you plan to visit this part of Spain - it's a must read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews