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Title: Spain and Its World, 1500-1700: Selected Essays by John Huxtable Elliott ISBN: 0-300-04217-5 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: March, 1989 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $40.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3 (1 review)

Rating: 3
Summary: Primarily for the specialist
Comment: Being a big fan of Elliott's erudite and entertaining "Imperial Spain" I was looking forward to reading "Spain and Its World". While this latter work was worthwhile, it fell short of my expectations. The book is divided into thematic sections of uneven quality. The first section, on Spanish involvement in the New World (my particular interest) was excellent, offering the reader a variety of interesting essays. The two following sections were a bit weaker, but the last section was quite engaging. Focusing on the "decline" of Spain, a term Elliott finds too facile and blunt to explain the problems and pressures Spain faced in the 17th century, it is very strong on Spain's "Golden Age of Culture", an area obviously close to Elliott's heart. Anyone who has ever admired Velasquez's "Surrender of Breda" (the cover art for Elliott's "Imperial Spain") or "Las Meninas" can appreciate this as well.
Another area close to Elliott's heart became tiredly repetitive - his coverage of the life of the Conde Duque, or Count-Duke Olivares, who rose to power as the first minister of Philip IV in 1621. Elliott has been long fascinated by the Count-Duke and it shows in this collection of essays, as he is by far the most central character. If you are looking for details of the Count-Duke or this particular milieu of Spanish history then dig in, my friend, as you are in for a feast. If not (and I wasnt, despite the fascinating, admirable and hopeless life of this rival of Richlieu) then dont bother trying to plow through this as if it were a survey or narrative. You'll simply get worn out by much of the same information presented over and over again. But perhaps I'm being a little unfair, as it is a collection of essays and not a survey of this period of Spanish history. If you have a particular interest in some of the specific areas, you are likely to be rewarded. But be warned, it is geared for the specialist, and will remain on my bookshelf only as a reference work for specific areas of Spanish history in the 16th and 17th centuries.