Since its first publication, J. H. Elliott’s work has become established as the most comprehensive, balanced and accessible account of the dramatic rise and fall of Imperial Spain. This is a new edition of his brilliant study of how a barren, impoverished and isolated country became the greatest power on earth in a few decades, and of its equally sudden decline.

At its greatest Spain was master of Europe: its government was respected, its armies were feared and its conquistadores carved out the largest empire the world had seen. Yet this splendid power was rapidly to lose its impetus and creative dynamism. How did this happen in such a short space of time? Taking in rebellions, religious conflict and financial disaster, Elliott’s masterly social and economic analysis studies the various factors that precipitated the end of an empire.