{"product_id":"the-basque-country-a-cultural-history-landscapes-of-the-imagination","title":"The Basque Country: A Cultural History (Landscapes of the Imagination)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Basque Country is a land of fascinating paradoxes and enigmas. Home to one of Europes oldest peoples and most mysterious languages  with a living folklore rich in archaic rituals and dances  it also boasts a dynamic modern energy  with the reinvention of Bilbao creating a model for the twenty-first-century city.  In The Basque Country  Paddy Woodworth takes us on a sweeping tour of this enchanting land. We discover a small territory which abounds in big contrasts  ranging from moist green valleys to semi-desert badlands  from snowy sierras to sandy beaches  from harsh industrial landscapes to bucolic beech woods. The book reveals how this often idyllic scenery forms the backdrop for a land of ancient and modern culture  where Basque poets still compose spontaneous stanzas in public contests and where strange age-old sports--rock lifting  goose decapitation--are still held at fiestas. Likewise  the region has made important contributions to modern culture  through novelists like Bernardo Atxaga  sculptors like Eduardo Chillida  painters like Zuluoaga  and cineastes like Julio Medem. And of course Bilbaos flagship museum  the Guggenheim  designed by Frank O. Gehry  may be the best work of architecture of the last century.  Here then is a marvelous guide to the culture and landscape of one of the most intriguing places on Earth.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44955141636149,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195328000","price":52.26,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195328004.jpg?v=1770299737","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-basque-country-a-cultural-history-landscapes-of-the-imagination","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}