Review by Choice Review
During the initial decades of European integration, the Spanish Question greatly troubled the European Communities and their member countries regarding how to manage relations with Francisco Franco's dictatorial regime. The best strategy to some was opposition through isolation of one of the last vestiges of European fascism. Others, however, supported a longer-term strategy of interaction to encourage Spain's economic liberalization and development and the country's eventual return to democracy and membership in what ultimately became the European Union. In this scholarly book, Guirao (Pompeu Fabra Univ., Spain) contradicts traditional arguments that European integration challenged the Franco regime. He argues that the European Communities' Spanish policy supported Spain's economic development by incrementally promoting trade through increased Spanish exports and growth in liberalized imports from Europe and that the resultant prosperity facilitated the dictator's hold on power. Well beyond a diplomatic recounting of negotiations about trade, this book carefully assesses how European integration impacted the Franco regime. Through its well-focused analytical framework and highly detailed description, this volume is an important read for anyone interested in Spain's modern political and economic history, developmental details of the European Union, and, more generally, international political economy regarding trade relations in Europe. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through faculty. --Thomas D. Lancaster, Emory University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
