Death in the Afternoon, By Ernest Hemingway, Vintage Books, £8.99

This summer the government of Catalonia is expected to introduce a ban that will see bullfights close in eastern Spain. Only the Spanish could have invented this sport: the bravado, the sheer machismo, the mindless danger matched by the almost serene madness of the bullfighters. Their respect for the bulls is almost legendary – they revere these enormous beasts – and the sport is surrounded by a ritualism that borders on religious fervour.

It is this mass of contradictions that Hemingway writes best about in this classic book. Sure, there are terrific chapters on the spectacle of the fight, and somewhat exhaustive details on the technique, the shapes and the balletic moves that make a bullfighter a minor god among men. Hemingway writes with the lean sense of awe that has inspired a generation of sportswriters; his praise is pared back to the bone, but it is no less laudatory for that.

But the best parts of this book are when he is dealing with the murky interplay and motivations of men who stride into a ring and put themselves at death’s door in the dusty, arid Spanish afternoon, and the crowd and culture that love and worship them.

In recent weeks several bullfighters have been severely injured, including José Tomás, considered one of the finest toreros of his generation, which has further fuelled the calls for the bullfight to be no more.

Hemingway is unsparing in his account of the dangers of the sport, and his documentary approach to several of the greats he has seen wounded and killed in the ring is difficult reading. But there are no doubts where his heart lies. Reading this book may not help you make up your mind about whether bullfighting should be banned, but it will bring you much closer to understanding what makes the sport such an integral part of Spanish culture.