Books by Henry Kamen

A new edition of a seminal work-one that explores crucial changes within Europe from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century

Few buildings have played so central a role in Spains history as the monastery-palace of San Lorenzo del Escorial. Colossal in size and imposingeven forbiddingin appearance, the Escorial has invited and defied description for four centuries. Part palace, part monastery, part mausoleum, it has also served as a shrine, a school, a repository for thousands of relics, and one of the greatest libraries of its time.Constructed over the course of more than twenty years, the Escorial challenged and provoked, becoming for some a symbol of superstition and oppression, for others a wonder of the world. Now a World Heritage Site, it is visited by thousands of travelers every year.In this intriguing study, Henry Kamen looks at the circumstances that brought the young Philip II to commission construction of the Escorial in 1563. He explores Philips motivation, the influence of his travels, the meaning of the design, and its place in Spanish culture. It represents a highly engaging narrative of the high point of Spanish imperial dominance, in which contemporary preoccupations with art, religion, and power are analyzed in the context of this remarkable building.

A survey of the Spanish Inquisition, that sets the notorious Christian tribunal into the broader context of Islamic and Jewish culture in the Mediterranean, reassesses its consequences for Jewish culture, measures its impact on Spain's intellectual life, and rebuts the myths and exaggerations that have distorted understandings of the Inquisition.

Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, the third duke of Alba, is remembered as a fanatical monster who laid waste much of the Netherlands rather than surrender it to Protestant heretics. Kamen attempts a re-evaluation of the duke, assessing this complex figure in the context of his times and personal faith.

Spain has had a long history of exiles. Since the destruction of the last Muslim territories in Granada in 1492, wave after wave of its people have been driven from the country. The Disinherited paints a vivid picture of Spain s diverse exiles, from Muslims, Jews and Protestants to Liberals, Socialists and Communists, artists, writers and musicians. Kamen describes the ways in which many of these expelled citizens have shaped Spanish culture or impoverished it by leaving and enriched their adopted homes through their creative responses to exile and to encounters with new worlds, Picasso, Mir , Dali and Bu uel among them. Henry Kamen s compelling and sympathetic account tells the story of their incalculable impact on the world.

An accessible biographical guide to Europe during a period of tremendous political, religious and cultural change.