We arrive at a different "literary terrain" where perhaps the format of the book is only maintained by the fact that it has spines and covers. But the interior is something else. Because of Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau far from being a series of volumes of History to become a sublimation of two arts such as painting and literature. Certainly ideal books to enjoy as works of art in your own home or to give as a demonstration of exquisite appreciation for the recipient.
Ferrer-Dalmau's books are those jewels that in the compendium of images and texts lead us to a historical fiction from indisputable facts that seem to take on new life. We travel to battlefields and turn it into fictional territory because the images directly invite us to reconstruct in our imagination. All thanks to the ambrosia of detail that this author's paintings ultimately are.
The chronicles detail what happened, the most passionate disseminators of history are responsible for transmitting the essential legacy of what we were. The one known as Battle Painter par excellence, thanks perhaps to Perez Reverte, supplies our imagination with the perfect scenery to achieve that glimpse that is worth more than all the words put together.
With the passage of time, military history has an epic point. Even more so in remote times that come to us mythologized to spruce up the story of great conquests or great defeats. A painter of battles like Ferrer-Dalmau captures those moments lost in time as projected from a chronovisor.
Top 3 recommended books by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau
The Spanish Tercios in Flanders
It is not about making a nationalist exaltation (there will also be someone who will). But there was a time when Spain was respected and admired throughout Europe. A respect and admiration that was earned from culture and knowledge and that was reinforced and reaffirmed with soldiers and battles if necessary.
The history of the world is a history of violence, to insist on the opposite is not to want to see reality. Ferrer-Dalmau takes us into a fascinating time of Europe ruled with the firmness of a Spanish Empire that neither saw the sun go down nor gave up in the effort to take its civilization towards new possible suns.
The Tercios were the heart and paradigm of the Habsburg army. This book offers an overview of the almost two centuries in which this army corps fought to defend the Spanish empire in Europe. The text, entertaining and manageable, is accompanied by interesting illustrations resulting from historical research.
Iron and gunpowder. The arms of the painter
In the same way that Ferrer-Dalmau became a meticulous painter with the soul of a goldsmith, in his extreme realism this painter shows all sorts of details transmuted from knowledge and research onto canvas. Every minute detail is imported from what was a specific battle, a sword, a suit, the clothing of the last horse ...
Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau shows us the history of Spain through the weapons and armies who carried them. The battles of Ferrer-Dalmau are a lesson in history and a faithful display of offensive and defensive weapons; uniforms, cavalry, infantry and artillery ... The «Battle Painter» once again rescues history and makes it enter through the eyes.
Sketches for history
Perhaps the best format for a book edition. The sketch does not require the magnificence of the pictorial work. In the same way that the painter traces what the final work is going to be in his notebook, various images come to us here from very different times, a whole small large sample of the overwhelming task of this painter.
Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau makes a journey, through his battle sketches, through the history of Spain: the Middle Ages, the Tercios, the main confrontations of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries, until reaching the current Spanish missions in Afghanistan, Mali or Lebanon.
