Crime At El Escorial

D. J. Walker’s Crime at El Escorial was a path-breaking study of the Spanish press and its influence on the public and jurisprudence. I know of no other historical examination of this subject area that is as richly detailed, comparative and fully researched. Professor Walker was able to coalesce impressive archival and literary sources in this volume. The addition of the epilogue to the revised edition brings the jury question to the forefront of the study. There are many problems with the jury system as currently practised here in the US and elsewhere. Crime at El Escorial brings a powerful, evocative historical element that should be welcome in any meaningful public discussion of the jury system and its equity. I recommend this work to anyone interested in such a discussion in the past or at present. * Bulletin of Spanish Studies *
Crime at El Escorial is an illuminating, well-documented study of the rise of a mass readership and the power of the popular press in Spain, as seen through the 1892 murder of a child. In this most welcome revised edition, Walker includes new material on the case, bringing it up to the present with the reinstitution of the jury trial in 1995. -- Noël Valis, Yale University
A compelling account of the coverage of a brutal child murder near Madrid in 1892 and its fallout, D.J. Walker’s book explores the power and the nature of journalism in late nineteenth-century Spain. The unremitting focus on sensationalism and the failure to engage with broader issues raised by the case had serious consequences, including undermining the legitimacy of the new jury system. -- Adrian Shubert, professor of history, York University