Books & the Arts / How Franco Ruled Spain Two new books examine these dark decades in Spanish history. Gen. Francisco Franco with his handpicked successor, Prince Juan Carlos of Spain, in 1975. (Keystone / Getty Images)Books in review El Generalísimo: A Biography of Francisco Franco Buy this bookBuy this book Ni una, ni grande, ni libre: La dictadura franquistaHalf a century after his death, Francisco Franco, the military dictator who ruled Spain for nearly 40 years, still has friends in high places. By the 1980s, as a democratic Spain burst onto the world stage, Pedro Almodóvar boasted that he made movies as if Franco had never existed. Tremlett portrays Franco as a consummate survivor, driven by boundless ambition, an absurdly inflated self-image, and sharp political instincts.