This is the first full account in any language of Spain's disastrous war with the United States in 1898, in which she lost the scattered remnants of her old empire. It is also the first comprehensive analysis of the ensuing political and social crisis in Spain, stretching from the loss of the Empire to the military coup of 1923. Sebastian Balfour weaves together political, economic, and social history in his study of the reaction to war and crisis by a wide range of participants, from rioters to rulers.

He examines the rise of Catalan nationalism, the fruitless efforts of politicians and intellectuals to regenerate Spain from above, the disintegration of Spain's political system before 1923, and the creation of an imperial myth in the subsequent dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and Franco. This is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the roots of the Spanish crisis in the first half of the twentieth century.