South From Granada (Penguin Modern Classics)

　　Between 1920 and 1934, Gerald Brenan lived in the remote Spanish village of Yegen and "South of Granada" depicts his time there, vividly evoking the essence of his rural surroundings and the Spanish way of life before the Civil War. Here he portrays the landscapes, festivals and folk-lore of the Sierra Nevada, the rivalries, romances and courtship rituals, village customs, superstitions and characters. Fascinating details emerge, from cheap brothels to archaeological remains, along with visits from Brenan's friends from the Bloomsbury group - Lytton Strachey and Virginia Woolf among them. Knowledgeable, elegant and sympathetic, this is a rich account of Spain's vanished past.

　　Gerald Brenan (1894-1987) was an English writer who spent much of his life in Spain. He is best known for The Spanish Labyrinth, a work of history on the background to the Spanish Civil War and for South From Granada: Seven Years in an Andalusian Village. He was awarded a CBE in 1982, and was much honoured in Spain. Chris Stewart is the author of Driving Over Lemons, which told the story of how Chris set up home in Spain to farm sheep and oranges and it went on to become an international best-seller. The 'sort-of' sequel A Parrot In The Pepper Tree followed in 2002 and continued the success of the first book. 2006 saw the publication of Chris' third book The Almond Blossom Society.