Paul Preston Books
Paul Preston is a British historian and Hispanist, renowned for his scholarship on modern Spanish history, particularly the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship. He is a professor at the London School of Economics and a fellow of the British Academy.
Known for: A People Betrayed: A History of Corruption, Political Incompetence and Social Division in Modern Spain 1874–2018
Books by Paul Preston
A People Betrayed: A History of Corruption, Political Incompetence and Social Division in Modern Spain 1874–2018
Paul Preston’s A People Betrayed is a sweeping, deeply researched history of modern Spain that argues one theme has linked monarchy, republic, dictatorship, and democracy alike: the repeated betrayal of ordinary citizens by corrupt elites, self-serving institutions, and chronically inadequate political leadership. Covering the period from the Bourbon Restoration in 1874 to the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2018, the book shows how graft, patronage, incompetence, and social polarization repeatedly weakened Spain’s attempts at reform and reconciliation. What makes this book so powerful is that it is not simply a catalog of scandals. Preston explains how corruption became structural, how political systems were designed to protect insiders, and how unresolved conflicts over class, region, religion, and memory kept returning in new forms. He connects palace intrigue, military intervention, business favoritism, authoritarian violence, and democratic-era scandals into one long historical pattern. Preston is one of the foremost historians of Spain, especially of the Civil War and Francoism, and his authority gives this narrative unusual depth. For readers seeking to understand Spain’s modern history—and the broader costs of elite failure in any democracy—this book is both essential and unsettling.
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Restoration Stability Built on Fraud
A political system can look orderly while rotting from within. Preston shows that the Bourbon Restoration, established in 1874 after years of upheaval, presented itself as a constitutional solution to instability, but in practice it rested on manipulation, exclusion, and patronage. Elections were no...
From A People Betrayed: A History of Corruption, Political Incompetence and Social Division in Modern Spain 1874–2018
Monarchical Decay Opened the Republican Moment
Regimes rarely collapse because of one mistake; they collapse when too many people stop believing they can be repaired. Preston argues that the fall of Alfonso XIII’s monarchy in 1931 resulted from accumulated discredit: military failures, social inequality, institutional dishonesty, and the king’s ...
From A People Betrayed: A History of Corruption, Political Incompetence and Social Division in Modern Spain 1874–2018
Civil War Grew from Polarization
Civil wars do not begin when societies disagree; they begin when political opponents are recast as enemies who must be destroyed. Preston treats the Spanish Civil War as the catastrophic outcome of cumulative polarization, elite irresponsibility, military conspiracy, and social fear. The 1936 milita...
From A People Betrayed: A History of Corruption, Political Incompetence and Social Division in Modern Spain 1874–2018
Francoism United Repression and Corruption
Authoritarian regimes often promise order, honesty, and national renewal, yet they frequently combine violence with private enrichment. Preston shows that Franco’s dictatorship, established after victory in 1939, relied not only on terror and censorship but also on favoritism, patronage, and economi...
From A People Betrayed: A History of Corruption, Political Incompetence and Social Division in Modern Spain 1874–2018
Growth Did Not Cure Structural Defects
Economic modernization can transform a country without reforming its political culture. Preston examines the technocratic era of the later Franco regime, especially from the 1950s onward, when Spain moved away from failed autarky and embraced development, tourism, foreign investment, and industrial ...
From A People Betrayed: A History of Corruption, Political Incompetence and Social Division in Modern Spain 1874–2018
Democratic Transition Chose Compromise Over Reckoning
Transitions to democracy are rarely clean moral victories; they are often negotiated escapes from dangerous pasts. Preston portrays Spain’s transition after Franco’s death as both an extraordinary achievement and a source of lasting tensions. Political leaders, reform-minded officials, opposition fi...
From A People Betrayed: A History of Corruption, Political Incompetence and Social Division in Modern Spain 1874–2018
About Paul Preston
Paul Preston is a British historian and Hispanist, renowned for his scholarship on modern Spanish history, particularly the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship. He is a professor at the London School of Economics and a fellow of the British Academy.
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Paul Preston is a British historian and Hispanist, renowned for his scholarship on modern Spanish history, particularly the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship. He is a professor at the London School of Economics and a fellow of the British Academy.
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