Torres-Pou, joan. Asia en la Espana del siglo XIX: literatos, viajeros, intelectuales y diplomaticos ante Oriente. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2013. 218 pp.In this monograph Dr. Joan Torres-Pou analyzes the unique orientalist discourse that appears in the different genres of writing by nineteenth-century Spanish authors who focus on Asia, predominantly the Far East (Philippines, China, Japan, etc.). In the book's introduction, Torres-Pou begins by giving a historical overview of nineteenth-century Western interest and colonization in the East. Then he proposes a question that will guide his analysis for the rest of the book: What was Spain's role in this European expansion into Asia? He partially answers this question by stating that, though Spain was not as materially invested as other European countries in the East, there was definitely a presence and interest in Asia at this time. In fact, he states that the main objective of his study is to convince readers of the need to look not just at the orientalism in Spain's literature but also at the presence of Asia in nineteenth-century Spanish society. Without the reevaluation and study of the texts generated by this presence and interest, he claims, it will never be possible to completely comprehend the complexity of Spanish history and literature during an era that was so decisive for the Spanish nation (21). And he manages, in the rest of the book, to masterfully accomplish this goal.The first chapter of the book deals with Juan Valera's writing on the Orient, in particular his novel Morsamor (1899). Based on in-depth research and knowledge of Valera's interest in Asian religions and history, Torres-Pou is able to demonstrate that Morsamor contains an orientalist subtext, in the sense given to it by literary critic Edward Said, hidden behind the sensational and parodie plot of the novel. Torres-Pou shows convincingly that the subtext, based on Valera's Eurocentric attitude common to that time, works to highlight the superiority of the Arian race. However, he also indicates that, due to the large amount of dialogue in the text, the reader is left to decipher the meaning of the passages, and therefore, this same racist and orientalist message is constantly put into question.A similar tactic and phenomenon is highlighted in chapter two, which deals with Luis Valera, Juan Valera's son, and his writing on his experiences as a diplomat in China. In Luis Valera's interesting text, Sombras chinescas (1902), dealing with a time in China just after the Boxer rebellions, Torres-Pou shows that, although Valera takes a stance of civilized superiority vis-a-vis the Orient, similar to that of his father, it is also evident in his writing that he questions the progress of a civilization that imposes itself on others in such a violent fashion. Torres-Pou points out that Luis Valera's texts contain similar sentiments of superiority and a desire to highlight the Arian origin of Western civilization, as his father did, but that because of the skeptical and sarcastic manner in which much of his writing is carried out, again, the orientalist messages become less straightforward and more questionable.The third chapter is a study of the cronicas of two principal participants in Spain's nineteenth-century Campana de Cochinchina (a Vietnamese military campaign): Father Francisco Gainza Escobas and Colonel Carlos Palanca Gutierrez. By analyzing the texts of these two figures as not just historical documents but also literary documents, Torres-Pou is able to demonstrate that once again there is a hidden message behind these apparent stories of military conquest. That message calls into question other European powers' colonial ambitions and at the same time Spain's political situation and its own colonial prowess, which is ambiguous at best. In doing so, the contradictions and ambiguities of Spain's colonial discourse are again revealed.Along similar lines, in chapter four of the monograph, Torres-Pou analyzes writings on the Philippines by the Spanish diplomat in China during the midnineteenth century, Sinibaldo de Mas y Sanz, and the Spanish General Director of Administration of the Philippines, Vicente Barrantes Moreno. …