Geoffrey Parker

Drawing on vital new evidence, a top historian dramatically reinterprets the life and reign of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, ruler of the world's first transatlantic empire "Masterly."--William Anthony Hay, Wall Street Journal "Seldom does one find a work of such profound scholarship delivered in such elegant and engaging prose. Drawing deftly on an astonishing volume of documentary evidence, Parker has produced a masterpiece: an epic, detailed and vivid life of this complex man and his impossibly large empire."--Susannah Lipscomb, Financial Times Selected as a book of the year (2020) by Simon Sebag Montefiore in Aspects of History magazine The life of Emperor Charles V (1500-1558), ruler of Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and much of Italy and Central and South America, has long intrigued biographers. But the elusive nature of the man (despite an abundance of documentation), his relentless travel and the control of his own image, together with the complexity of governing the world's first transatlantic empire, complicate the task. Geoffrey Parker, one of the world's leading historians of early modern Europe, has examined the surviving written sources in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Latin, and Spanish, as well as visual and material evidence. He explores the crucial decisions that created and preserved this vast empire, analyzes Charles's achievements within the context of both personal and structural factors, and scrutinizes the intimate details of the ruler's life for clues to his character and inclinations. The result is a unique biography that interrogates every dimension of Charles's reign and views the world through the emperor's own eyes.

Emperor

"Revolutions, droughts, famines, invasions, wars, regicides - the calamities of the mid-seventeenth century were not only unprecedented, they were agonizingly widespread.  A global crisis extended from England to Japan, and from the Russian Empire to sub-Saharan Africa. North and South America, too, suffered turbulence. The distinguished historian Geoffrey Parker examines first-hand accounts of men and women throughout the world describing what they saw and suffered during a sequence of political, economic and social crises that stretched from 1618 to the 1680s. Parker also deploys scientific evidence concerning climate conditions of the period, and his use of 'natural' as well as 'human' archives transforms our understanding of the World Crisis. Changes in the prevailing weather patterns during the 1640s and 1650s - longer and harsher winters, and cooler and wetter summers - disrupted growing seasons, causing dearth, malnutrition, and disease, along with more deaths and fewer births. Some contemporaries estimated that one-third of the world died, and much of the surviving historical evidence supports their pessimism. Parker's demonstration of the link between climate change and worldwide catastrophe 350 years ago stands as an extraordinary historical achievement.  And the contemporary implications of his study are equally important: are we at all prepared today for the catastrophes that climate change could bring tomorrow?"--Publisher's website.

war, climate change and catastrophe in the seventeenth century

Global crisis

The Crisis of the Aristocracy -- Education and Revolution -- The Contentious Clergy -- 'Dirty People of No Name' -- Justifying Disobedience -- chapter nineteen 'People of Heterodox Beliefs . . . Who Will Join Up with Anyone Who Calls Them': Disseminating Revolution1 -- 'Contagious Diseases' and Composite States -- The Connectors -- Exporting Revolution -- A Public Sphere in the West? -- A Public Sphere in China? -- A Public Sphere Elsewhere? -- The Rule of the Few -- PART V BEYOND THE CRISIS1 -- chapter twenty Escaping the Crisis -- Getting Away From It All -- Keeping Score -- The Psychoactive Revolution -- Peace Breaks Out -- No More Wars -- chapter twenty-one Warfare State or Welfare State? -- The Phoenix Effect -- Be Fruitful and Multiply -- A Second Agricultural Revolution -- The Consumer Revolution -- 'Seeing Like a State' -- The Containment of Disease -- Nourishing the People -- Creative Destruction -- Non-Creative Destruction -- chapter twenty-two The Great Divergence -- Educate and Punish -- The Crisis of the Universities -- The New Learning -- The Thought Police -- Singletons and Multiples -- The Limits of the Scientific Revolution -- Conclusion: The Crisis Anatomized -- Winners and Losers -- In Search of Common Denominators -- If -- The Two Worlds of Robinson Crusoe -- Epilogue: 'It's the Climate, Stupid'1 -- 'Darkness' by Lord Byron36 -- Chronology -- Acknowledgements -- Conventions -- Note on Sources -- Abbreviations Used in the Bibliography and Notes -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century

Global Crisis

Drawing on four decades of research and a recent archival discovery, revises the biography of the sixteenth-century monarch as it relates to his work, religion, and personal life, and sheds light on the causes of his leadership failures.

A New Life of Philip II

Imprudent King

Martin, Colin

The Spanish Enterprise and England's Deliverance In 1588

Armada

Revised second edition of the classic study, looking at Habsburg Spain's handling of the Dutch Revolt.

The Logistics of Spanish Victory and Defeat in the Low Countries' Wars

The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road, 1567-1659

From 1556 until his death in 1598, Philip II of Spain ruled the first global empire in history. This book investigates the strengths and weaknesses of Philip's rule, and the external factors that affected the achievement of his goals.

The Grand Strategy of Philip II

Felipe II

This is a new edition of Geoffrey Parker's much-admired illustrated account of how the West, so small and so deficient in natural resources in 1500, had by 1800 come to control over one-third of the world. Parker argues that the rapid development of military practice in the West constituted a 'military revolution' which gave Westerners an insurmountable advantage over the peoples of other continents. This edition incorporates new material, including a substantial 'Afterword' which summarises the debate which developed after the book's first publication.

Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800

The Military Revolution

The new edition of The Cambridge History of Warfare offers an updated comprehensive account of Western warfare, from its origins in classical Greece and Rome, through the Middle Ages and the early modern period, down to the wars of the twenty-first century in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

The Cambridge History of Warfare

This title provides an examination of the rise, evolution and decline of the city-state, from ancient times to the present day.

The City-state Through History

Sovereign City

Based on Spanish and Dutch documents from archive and private collections from all over Europe, The Dutch Revolt takes into account religions and economic, as well as political, factors, demonstrating the intricate links that tied the fate of the Netherlands to that of Spain, in a age when particularism was more potent that patriotism.

The Dutch Revolt

Colin Martin

The definitive history of the Spanish Armada, lavishly illustrated and fully revised “Will surely become the definitive account.”—Stephen Brumwell, Wall Street Journal In July 1588 the Spanish Armada sailed from Corunna to conquer England. Three weeks later an English fireship attack in the Channel—and then a fierce naval battle—foiled the planned invasion. Many myths still surround these events. The genius of Sir Francis Drake is exalted, while Spain’s efforts are belittled. But what really happened during that fateful encounter? Drawing on archives from around the world, Colin Martin and Geoffrey Parker also deploy vital new evidence from Armada shipwrecks off the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. Their gripping, beautifully illustrated account provides a fresh understanding of how the rival fleets came into being; how they looked, sounded, and smelled; and what happened when they finally clashed. Looking beyond the events of 1588 to the complex politics which made war between England and Spain inevitable, and at the political and dynastic aftermath, Armada deconstructs the many legends to reveal why, ultimately, the bold Spanish mission failed.

The Spanish Enterprise and England's Deliverance in 1588

Lesley M. Smith

One of the most fierce and wide-ranging debates in historical circles during the last twenty years has concerned the theory that throughout Europe, the seventeenth century was a period of crisis so pervasive, significant and intense that it could be labelled a 'General Crisis'. A number of articles stimulated by the debate were collected and published in a book entitled Crisis in Europe, edited by Trevor Aston. This volume takes the still acrimonious debate up to the present day. The editors have collected together ten important subsequent essays concerning the social, economic and political crises which affected not only Europe but also Asia in the mid-seventeenth century. All the pieces are essential reading for a clear understanding of the period. This new edition of The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century contains fresh research, new perspectives and completely updated bibliographies and index.

The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century

Pointing to modern parallels between the problems of governance of Philip II of Spain (who ruled from 1556 to 1598) and those facing modern leaders, this powerfully argued book provides a fascinating commentary on the decision-making process as practiced by great powers. 45 illustrations.

Esta es una obra de vital importancia sobre la “guerra de los treinta años”, posiblemente, como se ha descrito en ocasiones, la “guerra civil europea”. Trata la misma desde distintos puntos de vista, hecho que podría parecer baladí, pero que en realidad encierra lo que le hace imprescindible para comprender la época y el desarrollo de la misma. Describe la guerra desde los puntos de vista español, alemán, inglés, escandinavo, francés, italiano, holandés... Guerra de ambiciones materiales y religiosas, desencuentro final de reforma y contrarreforma, luteranos, calvinistas, hugonotes, católicos, anglicanos..., una masa de poderes representados en varios de los personajes más reconocidos, tales como el conde-duque de Olivares, el cardenal Richelieu, Oxenstierna, Wallenstein, el duque de Buckingham, etc. El libro también trata la guerra de Mantua, las campañas suecas en Polonia, así como los episodios anteriores y posteriores a la guerra por la importancia de los mismos en el devenir histórico de Europa. Con una extensa bibliografía, elaborados mapas, ilustraciones y una exhaustiva cronología, los autores ponen en las manos del lector esta obra, segunda edición inglesa aumentada y revisada, magistralmente estructurada por partes para comprender un todo.

La guerra de los treinta años

Breve y sintética historia de la guerra en Occidente, escrita de la mano de reputados especialistas internacionales.

Historia de la guerra

Richard L. Kagan

John Huxtable Elliott

The idea of a dialogue - sometimes harmonious, sometimes divisive - between the centre and periphery of the early modern European state stands at the heart of much of John Elliott's historical writing. It is the fulcrum around which his Imperial Spain revolves, and it lies at the heart of his analysis of the causes of the revolt of the Catalans against the centralising policies of the Madrid government. His writings on the Americas, such as The Old World and the New, likewise stressed the relationship between centre and periphery. This collection of essays by a group of Elliott's former students examines different aspects of this important theme and develops them. Taken together with the 'personal appreciation' of Elliott (Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford), it forms an important examination of the work of the greatest living historian of Spain as well as a major contribution to early modern European history.

Essays in Honour of John H. Elliott

Spain, Europe and the Atlantic

Mary R. Habeck

J. M. Winter

Mary Ruth Habeck

Professor Jay Winter

World War I, the first 'total war' in history, set in motion profound changes in the economies, demographics, and philosophies of the warring states. In this book, leading experts on the Great War discuss its causes, character, and legacy. Their writings show that to study World War I is to encounter not only the dissolution of the four defeated empires-Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey-but also the collapse of the optimistic assumption of progress that had defined the nineteenth century.

The Great War and the Twentieth Century

Based on the Altamira papers, more than five thousand documents containing Philip's correspondence with family and advisers, the author provides a portrait of the powerful sixteenth-century Spanish monarch and his political and cultural achievements

Geoffrey Parker

Books

Your next favorite book is out there