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Article: The king who kept his head Hugh Thomas on a Life of Juan Carlos, the king who survived a coup and took Spain from dictatorship to democracy
- Article from:
- The Sunday Telegraph London
- Article date:
- May 2, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2004 The Sunday Telegraph London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Juan Carlos:
A People's King
by Paul Preston
HarperCollins, pounds 25, 614 pp
pounds 23 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222
IN THE mid-Seventies, we were all scratching our heads wondering
how to change our politics for the better. Spain offered what seemed
an anachronistic contribution: the restoration of the Bourbons. How
people laughed! The Daily Telegraph's correspondent in Madrid was
especially scornful. The King concerned would surely be known to
history as Juan the Shortlived (Juan le Bref).
But Juan Carlos has now been on the throne for nearly 30 years. He
has been, as a Spanish weekly once put it, the motor of democracy,
and the most successful Spanish king at least since Charles III ...