An American in Barcelona

Author(s): Xavier Moret

Location(s): Barcelona

Genre(s): Historical

Era(s): Turn of 20th Century

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An inspirational novel of the real-life engineer whose ambitious project to build an electrical grid in Catalonia changed Barcelona forever

Xavier Moret illuminates the story of the American engineer Frederick Stark Pearson, an entrepreneur with a global vision, whose innovative business ventures brought electricity to Catalonia. From his arrival in Barcelona in June 1911, Dr. Pearson played a key role in the industrialization of the city, building tram and train networks to benefit from this new form of energy. However, tragedy strikes when Dr. Pearson dies aboard the Lusitania, torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. Suddenly, his ambitious project of urban and spatial planning is in jeopardy.

Moret compellingly envisions these historic events and the daily life of the American and Spanish pioneers in the local villages and work camps—a world reminiscent of the Wild West. He interweaves this story with his account of his own passionate commitment to chronicling Dr. Pearson’s remarkable achievements, and how this process of research and discovery ultimately changed his life.

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