Galdos's "Episodes Nacionales" are the epic of modern Spain, describing the major events of 19th-century Spanish history from 1805 to 1870. Though immensely popular in Spain, they are virtually unknown in the English-speaking world. "A Royalist Volunteer" is the first National Episode from the second series to be translated into English. It is a fast-paced story set in 1827 during the "War of the Aggrieved", an aborted prelude to the bloody Carlist War of the 1830s. It is unique among the National Episodes in that its fictional element predominates over its historical background.