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Title: Empire : How Spain Became a World Power, 1492-1763 by Henry Kamen, Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN: 0-06-019476-6 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.29 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Erudite revisionism on a massive scale
Comment: Henry Kamen, a well-known expert on Spanish history, gives us a new look at how the Spanish Empire was created and maintained. He makes a good case that Spain (particularly Castile) could not have kept this enterprise going without help. Influential people from other European nations had an interest -- particularly an economic interest -- in maintaining the Empire. They supplied much of the money through loans and most of the military personnel as well. Kamen assembles extensive supporting evidence for his revisionist theory. His description of the Empire as the first example of globalization is intriguing, though that globalization was of a different sort from what we see today. The more than five hundred pages of text may discourage non-academic readers. The book includes some fine color plates.
Rating: 4
Summary: Finally: an Honest history of Spain's "Empire"
Comment: I cut off one star only because of the overlapping shingle writing style of the Author. Kamen should take some lessons from Garrette Mattingly (Armada) on how to communicate. I had difficulty following how each chapter jumped back in time from where the previous chapter left off. What the book amounts to is more a series of essays rather than a single work.
However, after years of the politically correct propaganda which universally condemns Spain as one of the leading criminal enterprises in history, Kamen tells of honest attempts by Spain to promote Christianity in the new world points out that the Spanish Empire was not so inhearently evil as some would have us believe.
Even so, Kamen is quick to point out that the result of Spain's rule was often catastrophic for her subjects. Kamen details horriffic battles against Protestants in the Netherlands, and Rampant Slavery in the New World.
He also details the "Help" Spain had in maintaining her empire from all participants, primarily the Portugese, Dutch, Italians, but including even the English and Natives! Spain's role as the pipeline for European Wealth over 250 years seemed to be understood, according to Kamen, by most of the ruling class.
I found the work mostly difficult to read due to style, but Kamen's matter of fact voice is refreshing in its honesty.
Rating: 4
Summary: Solid Study
Comment: This is an interesting history of the Spanish Empire from its foundation at the end of the Reconquest of Spain to the 18th century. The author is a leading authority on early modern Spain. Kamen has two primary objectives. The first is simply to provide an accurate narrative history of the Empire. The second is to rebut nationalistic claims that the Spanish Empire resulted from the formation and activities of a powerful Spanish (actually Castillian) state. As can be seen by some of the negative comments of prior reviewers, this second objective is surprisingly controversial. Kamen demonstrates well that early modern Castille was not a strong state and that the assembly of the huge Spanish Empire resulted from a confluence of factors that had relatively little to do with the strength of Castille. A crucial fact was the dynastic good luck of the Castillian state. A series of very competent rulers - Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles V, Phillip II - were in charge during the formation of the Empire. Beyond their own personal abilities, they were also pan-European figures and the formation of the Empire owed a great deal to the fact that the ruling dynasty was able to tap into the talents and capital of other European entities. The Castillian monarchs also exercised power in the Low Countries and Italy, and under Charles V, in Central Europe. These territories and resources were crucial for building the Empire. Kamen shows very well the multi-ethnic and trans-national aspects of the Empire. A great deal of the capital for overseas investment came from Italy. Italians, Flemings, and Germans were all important servants of the Crown. The assembly of the Empire in the Western Hemisphere was largely a private enterprise though the Crown did provide crucial captial and sanctions. While most have concentrated on the Western Hemisphere, Kamen does an excellent job of reviewing the Empire in Europe and imperial efforts in North Africa. Kamen is concerned also with undermining the view that the conquest of the Americas was due to the overwhelming power of the Europeans. He points out repeatedly the importance of native American allies and the crucial role of epidemics involving imported diseases. In this context, Kamen probably misses a chance to make an important connection. Not only did epidemic disease facilitate conquest but it really made it possible for the Europeans to impose their culture, language, and rule in permanent ways. As Hugh Thomas pointed out in his book on the conquest of Mexico, without the huge depopulations that followed the conquest, the Spanish Empire in the Western Hemisphere might have resembled British India in the 18th and early 19th centuries, an administrative European veneer over a powerful native culture. Kamen shows very well the weaknesses of the Empire. Since Castille was not a strong state, the success of the Empire depended crucially on appropriate management of resources contributed from the holdings of the Empire. Without a competent dynast at the center, problems occurred. Also, problems in one important part of the Empire tremendously affected the rest of the Empire. The revolt of the Netherlands played a large role in dissipating the windfall of precious metals from the Western Hemisphere. A real virtue of this book is how it shows how rapidly the linkages between the Americas and Europe developed. Surprisingly, however, the Castillians themselves never became particularly cosmopolitan. Despite being the center of this huge Empire, Castillians remained insular. In later decades, Spanish Emperors had difficulty finding individuals with the language skills to serve as diplomats, and Castille was relatively intellectually barren. In the long run, the inability of Spain itself to become a major financial, intellectual, or industrial center doomed the Empire to failure.
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Title: Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power by Niall Ferguson ISBN: 0465023282 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision by Henry Kamen ISBN: 0300078803 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: August, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.80 |
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Title: The Perfect Gift: The Philanthropic Imagination in Poetry and Prose by Amy A. Kass ISBN: 0253215420 Publisher: Indiana University Press Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest by Matthew Restall ISBN: 0195160770 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: July, 2003 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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Title: Michael Broadbent's Vintage Wine by Michael Broadbent ISBN: 0151007047 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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