PUBLICATIONS

THE BOOK OF DUENDE

Out now in hardback and as an ebook

 

Twenty years after the publication of his international bestseller Duende: A Journey in Search of Flamenco, Jason Webster returns to the subject that launched his writing career with a compelling exploration of the mystery at the heart of the Andalusian art form, where ‘something disturbing and magnificent seems to stir in your blood, and you have the feeling… of the existence of worlds beyond worlds’.

Duende can speak of ‘joy, grief, ecstasy, emptiness, solitude, oneness – all manner of feelings’. And now, for the first time, Webster reveals its ancient roots and deeper meanings, looking beyond its southern Spanish outer appearance to penetrate its true essence as an experience relevant to people all over the world. For despite becoming almost synonymous with flamenco, duende has a heritage linking it to poetic and thought traditions stretching as far as North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and even beyond.

As a unique and inspiring collection of essays, aphorisms, stories, poems and proverbs, The Book of Duende introduces a reality beyond the ordinary from which duende itself originates, and to which it tries to reconnect us.

Goethe, Lorca and the singer-songwriter Nick Cave have all spoken of its universality. No interest in, or connection to, Spain, flamenco or Andalusia is necessary. Duende, as this book demonstrates, can speak to everyone.

 
 
 
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WHY SPAIN MATTERS

The Story of the Land that Shaped the Western World

(Available in the US and Canada only)

April 2021

'Illuminating and always provocative... beautifully written and extremely witty' – Paul Preston

Frequently overlooked as just another southern European country, Spain has, in fact, long predicted the future of the West – from the Crusades to the Renaissance, the Discovery of the Americas, World War II, and the recent Occupy Movement. Moreover, without Spain such emblematic Western concepts as rational thought, surgery, ‘modern’ artistic expression, 1984, or the American cowboy would all be missing.

But as with Homer’s doomed prophetess, Cassandra, Spain’s predictions are rarely heard, for her prescient gifts are mostly unrecognized – not least by the Spanish themselves, who periodically engage in collective acts of erasing their history in order to forge new national identities.

The result is a country which is engaged in perpetual struggle with itself; today she is back in the headlines over an ancient question of whether to remain united or break apart.

Yet out of the troubled crucible that is Spain, pure gold often emerges: pioneers including the ‘patron saint of the Internet’ Isidore of Seville; author of the first European novel Ibn Tufayl; Bartolomé de las Casas, the ‘inventor’ of human rights; and artistic giants such as Cervantes, Goya and Picasso.

Mixing decades of research with personal anecdote, WHY SPAIN MATTERS (*) is veteran author Jason Webster’s page-turning story of a hugely influential country from its beginnings to the present day. It is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand Spain, and a complex and changing world.

'A provocative and entertaining trot through the paradoxes of Spanish history' – Literary Review

'A fine new history of Spain at a crucial crossroads in its existence' – Jon Lee Anderson

(*) Published in the UK as Violencia: A New History of Spain

The world of max cámara

Mosaics of Spain Volume 1

October 2020

Max Cámara is back!

Valencia’s most famous police detective makes a long-awaited reappearance in this celebration of his life, his work, and the city he strives to protect. In a collection of articles, essays and an interview with Max himself, this first volume of Jason Webster’s new series, Mosaics of Spain, takes us deep into Spanish crime - and one man’s unorthodox ways of fighting it.

Including a profile of the head of the Valencia Police murder squad, a photo gallery, and thoughts on the psychology of detective fiction, The World of Max Cámara is a companion guide, an introduction and also a taster of future novels in the series to come.

Those who thought the chief inspector had worked his last case were wrong, and he’s here to prove it. As the Spanish proverb says, Mala hierba nunca muere - You can’t keep ‘a bad man’ down…

the art of flamenco

Mosaics of Spain Volume 2

November 2020

What is duende?

The Art of Flamenco sees Jason Webster revisit the subject which inspired his first book: duende, the mysterious yet essential power which lies at the heart of Spain’s most iconic musical expression.

Moved by the flamenco dance perfomances of his wife, Salud, Webster combines articles, essays, photographs, excerpts, and new translations of poetry by Federico García Lorca in an exploration of this real yet indefinable quality.

Volume Two of the Mosaics of Spain series continues Webster’s personal examination of a country that has been his passion for over thirty years, drawing on a wealth of writings and materials built up over that time. Impressionistic and multi-faceted, it delves deep into the enigmatic force which drives flamenco music and dance.