The miraculous story of Madridhow a village became a great world city

For centuries Madrid was an insignificant settlement on the central Iberian plateau. Under its Muslim rulers the town was fortified and enlarged, but even after the Reconquista it remained secondary to nearby Toledo. But Madrids fortunes dramatically shifted in the sixteenth century, becoming the centre of a vast global empire.

Luke Stegemann tells the surprising story of Madrids flourishing, and its outsize influence across the world. From Cervantes and Quevedo to Velazquez and Goya, Spains capital has been home to some of Europes most influential artists and thinkers. It formed a vital link between Europe and the Americas and became a cauldron of political dissentnot least during the Spanish Civil War, when the city was on the frontline in the fight against fascism.

Stegemann places Madrid and its people in global context, showing how the cityfast overtaking Barcelona as a centre of international finance and cultural tourismhas become a melting pot at the heart of Europe and the wider Hispanic world.