Episodios Nacionales

The Episodios Nacionales (National Episodes) are a collection of forty-six historical novels written by Benito Pérez Galdós between 1872 and 1912.

Divided into five series, they deal with Spanish history from roughly 1805 to 1880 combined with fictional accounts and characters.

With the exception of Gerona, all the episodes follow the adventures of the boy Gabriel de Araceli, beginning in French-dominated Spain through the war of Independence, from the battle of Trafalgar to the defeat of the French armies (1805–1814).

Remaining in Spain, Salvador is estranged from power during the six years of the absolutist monarchy of Fernando VII (1814–1820), lauded during the Liberal Triennium (1820–1823) and persecuted during the Ominous Decade (1823–1833).

The divided Spain of the First Carlist War and the Regency of Maria Cristina is the setting of the following episodes, which revolve around the romantic Fernando Calpena.