Gerald Brenan returned to Spain in 1949 for the first time since the Civil War. He was determined to see what had become of the country he loved, to speak to ordinary people and to experience life in small towns unvisited by foreigners.
Between 1920 and 1934, the author lived in the remote Spanish village of Yegen. This book depicts his time there, evoking the essence of his rural surroundings and the Spanish way of life before the Civil War. It portrays the landscapes, festivals and folk-lore of the Sierra Nevada, the rivalries, village customs, superstitions and characters.
The Spanish Labyrinth, first published in 1943, has become the classic account of the background to the Spanish Civil War.