I am preparing for my first-ever trip to Spain (a business trip to Barcelona, but with a little room for sight-seeing), so I purchased a number of travel books. This was one of them.
I'm not sure how much use it is for someone who has never visited the city, to be honest. The connections to sites and literature were interesting, but I don't feel like I learned much about or got a feel for the city and its geography.
The author lived in the region for several years, according to the notes at the end. This, I think, is part of the problem: she is very familiar and thus presumes that her reader is as well.
Entertaining, but not helpful for a first-time visitor to Barcelona.
1
 - Gill Balfour)
