First published in 1912, "Castilla" remains one of the most widely read works of twentieth-century Spanish literature in the United States. In it Azorin calls up some of Spain's most enduring and evocative images - windswept villages, rugged towers, proud "0hidalgos," late-afternoon "corridas" - as he works to resolve the defining tension of his generation: the desire to embrace the spirit of change entering Spain from northern Europe against the attempts to identify and preserve the essential elements of Spain's storied past."