Description
SLEEPING WITH SWALLOWS
Book Summary
This book rescues from oblivion the lives of thousands of people who inhabited farmsteads and worked the land under extreme conditions. Through anonymous biographies, the reader will discover a way of life based on family subsistence agriculture and livestock farming, developed in an arid environment lacking basic amenities such as running water, electricity, or roads. A work that pays tribute to the memory of those who lived from "first light to last light" and who today only survive in the memories of a few elderly people.
What is it about?
The book collects the stories of real people who lived and worked in the countryside, in farmsteads, dedicated to subsistence agriculture and livestock farming. These biographies are set in a context of fiercely arid land and climate, where the workday extended from dawn to dusk, every day of the year. The work describes a world without running water, without electric light (lit by oil lamps), without gas, without heating (only the hearth), and with paths that were mere trails for animals and people. These are unjustly forgotten families, whose memory is only preserved in the minds of very elderly people who still remember those times from the stone benches outside their homes.
Main themes
- Anonymous biographies of rural Spain.
- Life on farmsteads and subsistence agricultural work.
- Survival in conditions of extreme aridity and harsh climate.
- Historical memory of forgotten generations.
- Transformation of the rural world and loss of traditions.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in the social and rural history of Spain, anthropology, biographies of anonymous people, and historical memory. It will also be of great value to those who wish to understand the roots and past of rural communities, as well as to those looking for authentic testimonies about nearly vanished ways of life.
What this book provides
- A unique and emotional testimony of anonymous lives that have been silenced by official history.
- A deep immersion into the daily reality of the Spanish rural world in times of extreme hardship.
- The preservation of a collective memory that is at risk of being lost with the passing of the last generations who lived it.
- A reflection on human resilience and the ability to adapt to hostile environments.
- A work that connects the reader to their own roots and the family history of many Spaniards.
Technical specifications
- Author: Fernández Teruel, Alberto; González Serrano, Antonio Nono
- Publisher: Edicion Punto Didot
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: Biography: general, rural communities
- Collection: DIDOT
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: July 2024
- Number of pages: 540
- Weight: 400 g
Editorial review
This is a work of great documentary and human value, which fulfills the purpose of giving a voice to those who did not have one. Its length (540 pages) allows for a detailed development of the biographies, offering the reader a complete and nuanced vision of a specific historical reality. The focus on memory and oblivion, as well as the description of the harsh living conditions, make it a recommended read for those seeking to understand the roots of the Spanish rural world from an intimate and personal perspective.