You'll Ever Find... as well as a good read--I can't believe it's out of print! Probably most appealing to grammarians, however. The format invites you to envelop yourself in this beautiful language and its proper usage. Each teaching point is illustrated with phrases in English translated to Spanish or quotes from Spanish literature translated to English. I can't say enough about the timeless quality of this detailed reference. I've never come across a textbook that's such a pleasure to read.

Ramsey is the quinessential reference for anyone who is serious about learning Spanish accurately and correctly. This marvellous book has been integral in my personal library since 1960. I used it as a student, as a professor of Spanish and as a researcher. My original copy is now being used by a grandson in the wilds of Nebraska; hence, the need for an additional copy.
If there were more stars to give this review, I'd mark them down. Ramsey does not just provide the standard explanations, he gives the history and the technical aspects of the language. The book's arrangement makes research very easy and comprehensive.

I've used this reference text since I started learning Spanish ten years ago, and it never fails me. It is best suited to those interested in grammatical mastery of the language, but is useful to any first-year student. It is well organized and easy to read. First published in 1894 and last updated in 1956, the book is entirely relevant to Spanish today. Its useful forays into etymology and grammatical history will leave you with a lasting understanding and memory of essential elements of the language. The book has been praised by educators and students for over a century. As the most recent reviser, Robert Spaulding, says in his introduction, "Down through the years Spanish teachers continue to refer to Ramsey as 'the ultimate and best accessible authority.'" It is my favorite Spanish reference book.

Part picaresque novel, part moving romance, part historical document, this extraordinary reconstruction of fifteenth-century Spain, by one of Mexico's leading literary figures, has been acclaimed throughout Europe and Latin America. This was the century that changed the face of Spain, and of the world-the century of the wars with the Moors, which led to the end of Moorish Spain; the voyages of discovery, which culminated in Columbus's enterprise; and, perhaps above all, the century of the Inquisition, which financed both the wars and the voyages by seizing the fortunes of condemned Jews, and which led inexorably to the Expulsion. Here these events are seen through the eyes of one Juan Cabezon, a descendant of converted Jews, who is orphaned at an early age by a series of bizarre accidents and taken in hand by Pero Menique, a clever blind man, who uses him as a guide through the rich street life of Castil. It is Menique who brings him beautiful young Isabel de la Vega, sentenced to death by the Inquisition, and begs him to hide her in his house Juan and Isabel fall in love, but as time passes, Isabel is driven close to madness by her forced seclusion in Juan's house and her constant fear of death. One day she vanishes, and Juan sets off on a desperate search for her which takes him across Spain, into the heart of the Jewish communities, and constantly into the path of the Inquisition's autos-da-fea journey that stamps itself indelibly on the reader's mind.

About the Author: Homero Aridjis is one of Mexico's foremost poets and novelists. He has published more than twenty books of poetry and prose and won the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize for best book of the year in 1964 and the 1988 Diana. Novedades Literary Prize for the outstanding novel in Spanish for the sequel to 1492, Alemorias del fluevo mundo. Two volumes of his poetry have been published in English, Blue Spaces and Exaltation of Light, as well as a novel, Persephon. Twice the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he has taught at Columbia University, New York University, and the University of Indiana. He has been Mexican Ambassador to the Netherlands and Switzerland and is the president of the Group of 100, Mexico's leading environmental organization. He lives in Mexico City.

O'Callaghan's study was a Godsend to scholarly aficionados of the Cantigas. With his well-documented and readable style, he validates this enchanting set of manuscripts as a historical source. Amplifying his reading with more conventional primary sources, he presents an entertaining and focused biography of one of Spain's most interesting monarchs. The plates, although in black-and-white, are extremely useful -- one could only wish there were more of them, for the price!

I think that this is a good thing for teenagers,and their problems in its teen days.I thing that Chris has write a very good book not only for the teenagers.There is a lot of stufs about the live,love,dating,drogs,and other things that happend to teenagers. I'm 17 years old and I like all Christopher's movies to.

This is a wonderful book that discusses not only Eleanor, but the institution of queenship in medieval England. Parsons is a master at looking at a subject from a variety of disciplinary approaches and angles. Readers should be warned it presumes a thorough knowledge of thirteenth-century European politics, though.

This is an outstanding text. I have extensive experience working on Sephardic culture and the forced conversion of the Jews. In addition the author has been able to focus on one of the leading areas of Inquisitional studies that has gone unresearched for far too long and that is the treatment and experience of Jewish women forced to convert to Catholicism. This is a scholarly book that is a "must" have for anyone who is interested in medieval Spain, western history and nation-building because Spain was the first modern nation-state to come into existence in the West at the expense of minorities - the forced conversion and expulsion of Jews and Moriscos. The women of minority status were of the great risk and often the most abused. Levine Melammed has done a wonderful job in presenting this painful and traumatic experience. I recommend this text without any reservations.

It's such a relief to have the Siete Partidas available in this attractive, reasonably priced set. The venerable Robert I. Burns has given it a wonderful general introduction and the index increases its accesibility even more than the very clear translation does. No more ploughing through paragraph after paragraph of Old Spanish, in 19th-century print, to get to the enlightening and even entertaining ideas that so well characterize the 13th century and give sociological background to any kind of medieval research.

First published in the mid-twentieth century, Samuel Shellabarger's Captain From Castile is an enduring adventure novel about Pedro de Vargas, a young Spanish nobleman who escapes to the New World when the Inquisition denounces his family. Pedro's exciting adventures (complete with swordfights, political intrigue, and romance), make Captain From Castile a merry and panoramic narrative worthy to take its place among the literary classics.

I have loved this book since I was a teeny weeny little girl. I totally agree with everything that has been previously said about how good it is. It's accurate, it's a headlong read - you can hardly put it down once you get rolling. I had one of the original hardcovers (it was my aunt's), plus a falling-apart paperback which I just gotta replace. True, the movie does not do it justice although it is real, real good - I think this was Tyrone Power's role of a lifetime. The music is now considered a classic and the cinematography is utterly gorgeous (filmed in Mexico with all the mountains and flora and fauna, etc.). I told my daughter to bury me with a copy of this book... This is truly a movie they should absolutely re-make (and get it right) - anyway, more later!

This intriguing novel immediately propels the reader into the life of a young and courageous Spaniard who sacrifices everything he owns for a chance to find honor and treasure in the New World. Each adventure, from the escape from the Spanish Inquisition to the conquest of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), seems so real that you feel as if you were there alongside the characters, fighting for a common cause. This novel offers a vivid and accurate depiction of the Conquest of Mexico, the atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition, and a comparison between the "pagan savages" of the New World and the supposedly superior and religious conquistadors. The excitement of battle is also intertwined with an enthralling, romantic story line.
Although this book would be fantastic with only its compelling story line and breathtaking adventure, it is enriched by a profound and universal philosophy that questions and defines such concepts as love, friendship, racism, and religion. Captain from Castile is an inspiring and enthralling novel that I would equally recommend as an adventure, a romance, a historical and cultural depiction, or a deeper, almost philosophical piece. I found it a book that was hard to put down, yet so absorbing that when I reached the final page, I wished that the book was longer so that I might remain in the story a few moments longer.

Alfonso X is greatly depicted as a man of much intelligence and prose while leading his country to great European power. O' Callaghan has a wealth of knowledge of the subject matter, and I recommend this book to anybody interested in medieveal literary and political figuers of Europe.

Provides a nice overview of this many-faceted ruler

Actually.....nil stars.

Only buy it if you are the sort of person who buys timeshare, the Eiffel Tower, etc...

For those who are unaware, the "MacCathy Mor" discussed in the book was really an imposter.

The reality of an indigenous Irish nobility is not much understood or accepted inside Ireland itself, much less in the rest of the world. As the victors write the history, too much Irish history has omitted any reference to the fact that Ireland had its own kings and nobles well before the Norman-English intruded on the scene. To this day the claims of persons such as the MacCarthy Mor to royal status are met with skepticism; relevant to this book, one individual expressed this skepticism so openly as to warrent a suit before the Italian courts. This lawsuit offered the MacCarthy Mor to present to a court of experts his credentials as Head of the Royal House of Munster, as Chief of his Name, and as rightful bearer of the coat of arms of the MacCarthy Mor. The Court carefully reviews and expounds on the evidence presented, and the ruling presents in detail the Court's rationale for fully supporting the MacCarthy Mor's claims. This book is a must read for any student of Irish history, modern aristocracy, chivalry, or heraldry. A word of warning, though: this is a legal document, and it reads like one -- don't expect light reading, but do expect to be educated!

If you thought that the Gaelic Nobility died out in 1601, or even 1691, this book is for you. This book documents the present situation of one of the Royal lines of Ireland. It documents the present views of two European powers towards the rights and prerogatives of the current representative of the Royal Eoghanacht Dynasty. This Royal line ruled over the southwest quarter of Ireland for more than a thousand years. The last regnant King was Donal IX, King of Desmond, who died in 1596.

Yet the dynasty, with it's rights and priveleges, survives! Contained in the book are the transcripts of two Italian Court rulings, a translation of a Certification from the Kingdom of Spain, and copies of various supporting documents that were made available for the Italian and Spanish authorities. This book will be of special interest to those who study the Gaelic history of Ireland, and those who claim descent from the MacCarthy family.