About the Author

Benito Perez Galdos (1843-1920) Novelist and playwright, born in Las Palmas, Canary Is, Spain. Regarded as Spain's greatest novelist after Cervantes, his 46 short Episodios nacionales (National Episodes) give a vivid picture of 19th-c Spain from the viewpoint of the people. Some of his longer novels have been translated, including Dona Perfecta (1876, trans 1886). His plays, many of them based on his novels, have also been successful.