In few places, contends Professor Arango, do illusions obscure reality as they do in Spain. The Spaniard as well as the foreigner has believed and sustained the myths; the scholar as well as the poet. For the Spaniard, myth became the substitute for action in a world in which Spain was increasingly a nonparticipant. This book analyzes the political system created by Franco. His study continues into the present period of transition between an authoritarian past and a democratic future. The myths put to rest, Spain is viewed as a contemporary modernizing nation and is examined as such.