PENGUIN ORANGE SPINES : IMPERIAL SPAIN 1469-1716 PB – J. H ELLIOTT-NEIL PINCHES

"The story of Spain s rise to greatness from its humble beginnings as one of the poorest and most marginal of European countries is a remarkable and dramatic one. With the marriage of Ferdinand & Isabella, the final expulsion of the Moslems and the discovery of America, Spain took on a seemingly unstoppable dynamism that made it into the world s first global power. This amazing success however created many powerful enemies and Elliott s famous book charts the dramatic fall of Habsburg Spain with the same elan as it charts the rise."