The irony behind these finely wrought poems and prose pieces crossing the borders of language is the harrow of history. Spanish men of the author's generation grew up with and did National Service for one of Europe's last great dictators: Generalissimo Franco.So the sweet recollections of childhood and adolescence in Extremadura are tinged with an awareness of the gross inequalities of Franco's Spain, and the terrible civil war of the 1930s that took him to his 'throne'. But the world has changed, and we have changed with it! Manzano's extraordinary feats with language cover the gamut of expression, from simple (Wines from Spain) to intricate (Ein Rätsel), and move easily from Madrid to Paris and London, even including some touching poems by Saharwi children from the former Spanish Sahara. This is a cosmopolitan, complex collection, the fruit of a complex mind, and the author bids you welcome.