The New Spaniards

A fully revised, expanded and updated edition of this masterly portrayal of contemporary Spain.

John Hooper's experience as a foreign correspondent spans more than 25 years. He has lived in every major capital in western Europe - Paris, Madrid, Rome and Berlin - and speaks fluently all five major languages of western Europe. John Hooper is currently Rome correspondent for The Economist and the Guardian.

A fully revised, expanded and updated edition of this masterly portrayal of contemporary Spain.<br/>
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The restoration of democracy in 1977 heralded a period of intense change that continues today. Spain has become a land of extraordinary paradoxes in which traditional attitudes and contemporary preoccupations exist side by side. Focussing on issues which affect ordinary Spaniards, from housing to gambling, from changing sexual mores to rising crime rates. John Hooper's fascinating study brings to life the new Spain of the twenty-first century.

John Hooper

What's not to love? A thoroughly researched, well-written, ageless narrative of a fascinating people

Thanks to his great curiosity, his splendid comparative and analytical perspective, and a fine eye for telling details, John Hooper gets under the skin of a fascinating people in a remarkable and compelling way

John Hooper is a supremely able and experienced foreign correspondent who has mastered a particular subgenre of his craft: the detailed and comprehensive study of individual countries... an admirable piece of work, unassuming but authoritative. If Hooper really were a diplomat instead of a reporter, it would surely earn him his knighthood

John Hooper refuses to succumb to easy cliche while explaining the best and worst of Italy. Mixing the amusing titbit with the big picture, he provides context for the question that perplexes the occasional visitor: how come a country that has produced Berlusconi, "bunga bunga" parties, the mafia and an extraordinary bureaucracy is still so attractive?

Hooper has written a fascinating, affectionate and well-researched study that delivers the tantalising flavour of a country as hot, cold, bitter and sweet as an affogato

An amusing and engrossing account of a thoroughly irresponsible nation

Italy remains the most fascinating of countries, often perplexing and yet always engaging. Hooper does it justice. People who don't know Italy will find this book a splendid introduction. Those who know and love the country will find much that is new as well as familiar, much that will have them nodding in agreement, some observations that will meet with the response , "not to my mind". It deserves to sit happily on the bookshelf beside Barzini; and that is high praise

This portrait of a nation is required reading for anyone heading to a Tuscan villa or Puglian beach this summer

Sublime and maddening, fascinating yet baffling, Italy is a country of endless paradox and seemingly unanswerable riddles. <br/>
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John Hooper's marvellously entertaining and perceptive new book is the ideal companion for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Italy and the unique character of the Italians. Looking at the facts that lie behind - and often belie - the stereotypes, his revealing book sheds new light on many aspects of Italian life: football and Freemasonry, sex, symbolism and the reason why Italian has twelve words for a coat hanger, yet none for a hangover.

John Hooper

Praise for The Italians

What's not to love? A thoroughly researched, well-written, ageless narrative of a fascinating people

Thanks to his great curiosity, his splendid comparative and analytical perspective, and a fine eye for telling details, John Hooper gets under the skin of a fascinating people in a remarkable and compelling way

John Hooper is a supremely able and experienced foreign correspondent who has mastered a particular subgenre of his craft: the detailed and comprehensive study of individual countries... an admirable piece of work, ...

What's not to love? A thoroughly researched, well-written, ageless narrative of a fascinating people

Thanks to his great curiosity, his splendid comparative and analytical perspective, and a fine eye for telling details, John Hooper gets under the skin of a fascinating people in a remarkable and compelling way

John Hooper is a supremely able and experienced foreign correspondent who has mastered a particular subgenre of his craft: the detailed and comprehensive study of individual countries... an admirable piece of work, ...

What's not to love? A thoroughly researched, well-written, ageless narrative of a fascinating people

Thanks to his great curiosity, his splendid comparative and analytical perspective, and a fine eye for telling details, John Hooper gets under the skin of a fascinating people in a remarkable and compelling way

John Hooper is a supremely able and experienced foreign correspondent who has mastered a particular subgenre of his craft: the detailed and comprehensive study of individual countries... an admirable piece of work, ...

Books by John Hooper

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