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Title: A great history of Spanish literature
Review: Every collective volume is a gamble, and it is destined to be uneven. "The Cambridge History of Spanish Literature" does not escape this axiom. As a graduate student of Spanish literature, I found however most of the essays to be excellent. Another virtue of this volume is how undogmatic it is. Professor Gies made a praiseworthy effort to include different perspectives and critical traditions from both sides of Atlantic. On the other hand, its three defects are: the bibliography is not sorted out, it is not commented and therefore it is not helpful at all; some essays have footnotes, some do not, and therefore some are more informative than others for no good reason; and lastly, there are some major authors that simply fall through the cracks and are not covered appropriately, for instance Gracian. But all in all, it is one of the best volumes if its kind, in English or Spanish, out there, and well worth the purchase.
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