A humane, subtle, and splendidly informative study of recent Spanish history, with important observations about the critical role of civil society in the political triumphs and failures of other countries. A greatly rewarding and rare example of the complementarity of sociological and historical interpretations of political change.
-- Fritz Stern Foreign Affairs
The Return of Civil Society…is a book that can only be described as magisterial. It moves easily and successfully along the boundaries of history, political science, and sociology, presenting a carefully crafted argument about the democratization of Spain while reflecting intelligently and provocatively on many other subjects.
-- Eusebio Mujal-Leon American Political Science Review
A decade from now, when scholars evaluate whether the debate over civil society revised our conventional assumptions, I am confident that Pérez-Díaz’s book will be mentioned as having moved us closer to our goal.
-- Carlos A. Forment Contemporary Sociology