Zaragoza: A Story of Spanish Valor

Benito Pérez Galdós is a great Spanish writer, sometimes called the Walter Scott of his country; and none of his books is as highly esteemed as "Zaragoza: A Story of Spanish Valor".  The city of Zaragoza survived a siege by Napoleon's generals with a valor that is a credit not only to Spaniards but human spirit itself.  This siege is the theme of the book.


Galdós is truer to history than Scott, and the characters he creates move in an atmosphere of reality rather than romance.  "Zaragoza" ranks with Tolstoi's "War and Peace" and Zola's "La Débâcle" among the great dramatic war novels.