When was Spain born? At what point did we cease to be a mosaic of peoples to become a nation and forge a common identity? Spain is not an invention. Spain is a melting pot of small, ancient peoples who at times joined forces and at others waged war. It is the result of centuries of clashes: Roman legions, Visigothic kingdoms, emirs and caliphs, Christian kings who made pacts or slaughtered one another. It is the conspiracy against the French yoke and the audacity of sailors who crossed the Atlantic. The empire on which the sun never set. And also the civil war that still stings. Our history is as contradictory as those who made it. Grandeur and misery, fanaticism and genius, conquest and defeat. All mixed together in the same soil, in the same blood, in this old bull's hide. Luis E. Íñigo traces that history--from before Spain was Spain to the present day--without a "black legend" or a "pink legend." Without taking sides. With the critical yet clear-eyed gaze of someone who understands that the historian's craft is not to judge, but to understand. And to help others understand. Brief, rigorous, honest. A work that does not set out to prove you right or wrong, but to show you how we got here. Because in times of polarization and the battle for the narrative, understanding the past is the only way to avoid repeating it. Because Spain is no different: it is, simply, the only country we could have been.