ABSTRACT
The Basque country, that autonomous region in the north of Spain at the base of the Pyrenees, has known a long history of invasions by marauding tribes, and attempts at political suppression and cultural extinction. From the 40 years of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, through the years of transition toward a modern democratic state with its consequent liberalization, the Basque country has endured a great deal of turmoil. With the rapid and eager absorption of modern culture along with all its accoutrements, the Basque country has lifted some of that burden from the book industry. Both television and radio, through state-run programming, have taken on the lion’s share of promoting culture and addressing the problem of illiteracy. From the mid to late 1970s, Basque publishing began to take on wider dimensions. Until 1973, publishing houses reacted to the political environments in which they functioned by subjecting their editions to editorial policies founded on political ideologies.
