The legacy of imperial Spain was shaped by many hands. Chief among them is the towering figure of King Philip II, the cultivated Spanish monarch whom a contemporary once called "the arbiter of the world." Cheerful and pious, he inherited vast authority from his father, but nevertheless felt himself unworthy to wield it. His forty-two-year reign changed the face of the globe forever. Alongside Philip we find the entitled descendants of New Spain's original explorers—men who, like their king...

From one of the greatest historians of the Spanish world, here is a fresh and fascinating account of Spain's early conquests in the Americas.Hugh Thomas shows Spain at the dawn of the sixteenth century as a world power on the brink of greatness. For Spain and for the world, the decision to send Christopher Columbus west was epochal—the dividing line between the medieval and the modern.Spain's colonial adventures began inauspiciously. In spite of its small scale, it was a mi...

From a master chronicler of Spanish history comes a magnificent work about the pivotal years from 1522 to 1566, when Spain was the greatest European power. Hugh Thomas has written a rich and riveting narrative of exploration, progress, and plunder. At its center is the unforgettable ruler who fought the French and expanded the Spanish empire, and the bold conquistadors who were his agents. Thomas brings to life King Charles V—first as a gangly and easygoing youth, then as a liberal statesm...

Innovation has shaped society since civilization began. Imperial China was the most innovative society on earth, but it failed to join the 19th century industrial revolution. In the 20th century, the Communist Party of China addressed that failure. Today China boasts an internationally compliant, rapidly developing IP system. State planning continues to be critical as the case of the largest, single, technology acquisition and infrastructure project in world history, high speed rail, demon...

Intentional mistranslations that set a meandering path through the maze of language.Drawing on the patterns of words, speech, and identity we encounter in the wider world—subway ads in Mexico City, a Dutch-Japanese phrase book, multi-lingual airplane safety instructions, one of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities—the poems in Hugh Thomas's Maze playfully translate the maze of languages and language into moments of amazement."A clever, complex debut,

Following Rivers of Gold and The Golden Empire andbuilding on five centuries of scholarship, World Without End is the epic conclusion of an unprecedented three-volume history of the Spanish Empire from “one of the most productive and wide-ranging historians of modern times” (The New York Times Book Review).The legacy of imperial Spain was shaped by many hands. But the dramatic human story of the extraordinary projection of Spanis...

This book is about the life and coming of age of a young wealthy English boy, who goes to school at Rugby. Throughout the novel, we are witnesses to the growing up of Tom and his friends. Tom is not a model boy, but rough, virile and self-confident, as is his friend East, a smart and audacious guy. The story is funny and entertaining, and is also illustrative about life in the English boarding schools (for affluent people) in the XIX century. It is also a bildungsroman, that is, the story ...

A masterpiece of the historian's art, Hugh Thomas's The Spanish Civil War remains the best, most engrossing narrative of one of the most emblematic and misunderstood wars of the twentieth century. Revised and updated with significant new material, including new revelations about atrocities perpetrated against civilians by both sides in this epic conflict, this "definitive work on the subject" (Richard Bernstein, the New York Times) has been given a fresh face forty years ...

The charm of Madrid is elusive, but for those who know how to find it, Madrid has magic. Its magic can be found in the shadow cast over the present by the past. In this Traveller's Reader, a city that was once the seat of power for perhaps the most ambitious political enterprise the western world had seen since the fall of Rome, the Spanish Empire, is brought to life in vivid diaries, letters, memoirs and histories.The Earl of Clarendon describes seventeenth-century bullfights; Sal...

"Tom Brown's Schooldays" is a timeless bildungsroman written by Thomas Hughes, capturing the experiences of a young boy as he navigates the challenges and adventures of life at Rugby School in England during the early 19th century. The novel follows Tom Brown as he enters the prestigious boarding school, encountering a diverse cast of characters and forging lifelong friendships. Through Tom's journey, readers witness his growth from an impulsive and spirited youth to a mature and principle...

Drawing on the patterns of words, speech, and identity we encounter in the wider world—subway ads in Mexico City, a Dutch-Japanese phrase book, multilingual airplane safety instructions, one of Italo Calvino’s invisible cities—the poems in Hugh Thomas’s Maze playfully (mis)translate the maze of languages and language into moments of amazement.

Exploring the successful Norman invasion of England in 1066, this concise and readable book focuses especially on the often dramatic and enduring changes wrought by William the Conqueror and his followers. From the perspective of a modern social historian, Hugh M. Thomas considers the conquest's wide-ranging impact by taking a fresh look at such traditional themes as the influence of battles and great men on history and assessing how far the shift in ruling dynasty and noble elites affecte...