First published in 1912, Castilla remains one of the most widely read works of twentieth-century Spanish literature in the United States.

In it Azorin calls up some of Spain's most enduring and evocative images - windswept villages, rugged towers, proud hidalgos, late-afternoon corridas - as he works to resolve the defining tension of his generation: the desire to embrace the spirit of change entering Spain from northern Europe against the attempts to identify and preserve the essential elements of Spain's storied past.