Spain: A History

Out of the division and strife of the Middle Ages, Spain emerged from behind the massive Pyrenees to straddle the stage of European politics like some new colossus. Discoverer of a New World, it became the greatest power on earth and created a Golden Age of culture quite breathtaking in the quality of its achievement. Within 150 years, Spain was in a state of decay and fast being left behind by more progressive European nations.

Here, from award-winning historian Melveena McKendrick, is the dramatic story of the rise and fall of the Spanish empire.