text:  Amidst the various parties and factions the strange contradictions of the national character the interminable web of intrigue and political manoeuvre how arduous the task to unravel the truth to throw a clear light upon the state and prospects of Spain and explain the hidden and complicated machinery by which many of the recent events in that country have been brought about! We have now lying before us a book in which this task has been attempted and we are disposed to think by no means without success