EL CID

A fascinating study of historical mythmaking Concise and absorbing Paul Freedman author of Out of the East Rodrigo Díaz lived a violently colourful life in eleventh century Spain By turns an ambitious military leader exile and brutal mercenary he served Christian kings fought against Christian princes in service of Muslim rulers raided and killed Muslims and eventually struck out on his own carving out an independent principality While Rodrigo the man is long dead El Cid lives on a superhero a quasi saint the spirit of Spain according to military dictator Franco and a champion of medieval Spanish multiculturalism Nora Berend uncovers how el Cid has been transformed across the centuries confronting the gulf between truth and legend and examining how a military adventurer became a hero to people on opposite ends of the political spectrum What is it about this man that appeals to us And why do we transform the most unsuitable people into heroes