"Life is a Dream," a work by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, is centered on issues of freedom and predestination. The play unfolds around Segismundo, Prince of Poland, imprisoned since birth by his father, King Basilio, due to a prophecy predicting the ruin of the kingdom under his rule. When Basilio decides to test fate by releasing Segismundo, the plot explores the consequences of this decision. The narrative addresses Segismundo's internal struggle with his destiny and the nature of reality, questioning whether life is a dream from which one can awaken. Other characters, such as Rosaura and Astolfo, weave subplots that interconnect personal desires and social duties, reflecting on justice, honor, and love. Set in a context that blends elements of drama, philosophy, and politics, the play investigates the complexity of the human condition, the ethics of leadership, and the power of repentance and personal transformation. With a structure that includes intrigue, plot twists, and reflections on being and seeming, "Life is a Dream" invites the audience to ponder freedom and determinism.

The half century of European activity in the Caribbean that followed Columbus’s first voyages brought enormous demographic, economic, and social change to the region as Europeans, Indigenous people, and Africans whom Spaniards imported to provide skilled and unskilled labor came into extended contact for the first time. In Life and Society in the Early Spanish Caribbean, Ida Altman examines the interactions of these diverse groups and individuals and the transformation of the islands of the Greater Antilles (Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica). She addresses the impact of disease and ongoing conflict; the Spanish monarchy’s efforts to establish a functioning political system and an Iberian church; evangelization of Indians and Blacks; the islands’ economic development; the international character of the Caribbean, which attracted Portuguese, Italian, and German merchants and settlers; and the formation of a highly unequal and coercive but dynamic society. As Altman demonstrates, in the first half of the sixteenth century the Caribbean became the first full-fledged iteration of the Atlantic world in all its complexity.

Given plenty of water, and Madrid is an ideal place for flowers. Such carnations as those which are grown in the nursery gardens there are never seen elsewhere-they are a revelation in horticulture; nor are the roses any less wonderful. The bouquet with which a Spaniard, whether hidalgo or one of your servants, greets your birthday is generally a pyramid almost as tall as yourself. It needs to be placed in a large earthenware jar on the floor, and if you should be happy enough to have a good many friends, there is scarcely room for anything else in your gabinete. -from "Chapter IV: Spanish Society" At the turn of the 20th century, British and American tourists and travelers were only just beginning to explore the beauty of Spain and acquaint themselves with her people. This ode to a romantic and-in 1902, when this volume was published-increasingly cosmopolitan nation is a wonderful introduction to the nation at the time, exploring the land and its inhabitants, popular amusements, politics and government, commerce and agriculture, religion and education, arts and literature, the etiquette at the royal court, the position of women, the wonders of Madrid, and much more. Also included: chapters on "Portuguese Life in Town and Country" by Eugene E. Street. OF INTEREST TO: students of European culture, armchair travelers