Review by Choice Review
Kagan (Johns Hopkins) gives shape to an adversarial process among Spanish historians, royal advisers, and rulers to establish some measure of objective truth, ever so elusive, in official, commissioned histories of Spain's kings between the late Middle Ages and the reign of Charles II. The author uses histories that spoke to the accomplishments of particular monarchs (historia pro persona) and histories that celebrated Spain's conquest and empire (historia pro patria) to shed light on the ways Spanish kings insisted they and important decisions and events be remembered. The monarchs and their chief ministers were not above intimidating historians (as in the case of Alfonso de Palencia's run-in with Henry IV of Castile); censoring, editing, or destroying manuscripts (as in the case of the meticulous Philip II); and restricting not only the honor and prestige of a commission but also access to official records and correspondence to certain authors (as when the relationship between the Duke of Lerma, Philip III's chief minister, and Antonio de Herrera Tordesillas soured). This work provides fascinating, welcomed research on writing official history behind the scenes. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. E. A. Sanabria University of New Mexico
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
