This book presents a concise survey of the Spanish economy from the end of the Civil War of 1936–9 to the present. In it the author analyses the transformation of Spain from a backward agrarian economy - committed by Franco and the country's military rulers to the impossible quest of self-sufficiency - to a modern, rapidly growing, outwardly orientated economy. By analysing demographic developments, changes in agriculture, industrial growth, changes to the financial system and the development of foreign trade, the author shows how Spain has reached a position where it is fully integrated into the international economy and, since January 1986, has been an active member of the European Community. This is a book both for students of twentieth century economic history, and for their teachers.

"The book's main virtue is its notable capacity to cover much ground in a limited space. Harrison has outdone himself in this new book, in which he manages to condense half a century of Spanish economic history into a mere sixty-eight pages....Harrison's clear and systematic approach to the subject is a key ingredient in the success of this effort....Joseph Harrison's new work, is a useful quick introduction to the subject, and the enormous amount of information covered in its few pages and excellent bibliography will, no doubt, make it a key reference work." Jose Alvarez Junco, The Historian
"Joseph Harrison's new work, is a useful quick introduction to the subject, and the enormous amount of information covered in its few pages and excellent bibliography will, no doubt, make it a key reference work." Jose Alvarez Junco, The Historian
"...Mark Harrison has produced the most important work on teh Soviet World War II economy to date in any language, and that it is likely to remain the standard work for some time to come. The research is thorough, the analysis surefooted, and the scholarly judgments imposingly sound. ...Harrison has certainly left us with much better information about the wartime Soviet economy than anyone thought possible, and he has provided us with much food for thought, too. This book is not, therefore, just for economic historians, or merely for historians of World War II, it is an important book for anyone interested in the Soviet economic experiment and its ultimate failure." James R. Millar, Slavic Review