The Spanish Empire of Charles V

The Golden Age

Moving between Spanish conquest abroad and the court of the astute Charles V, Hugh Thomas's The Golden Age: The Spanish Empire of Charles V is the second volume in a planned trilogy on the Spanish Empire. 
 
 When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in South America in the sixteenth century, they swept across the continent in a blaze of imperial expansion and brutal savagery. 
 
 Beginning with the return of the remnants of Magellan's circumnavigation in 1522 and ending with Charles's death in 1558, Hugh Thomas's masterful work brilliantly brings to life one of the most extraordinary periods of the Renaissance, revealing how the Spaniards were able to conquer Guatemala, Yucatan, Columbia, Venezuela, Peru and Chile; how the audacious conquistador Francisco de Orellana sailed down the Amazon, why Cabeza de Vaca walked from Florida to Mexico and what drove Hernando de Soto to pursue worldly riches in Florida, Mississippi and Georgia. 
 
 While adventurers and explorers like Cortés and Pizarro build entire cities and amassed vast wealth from the treasures of the land, they also killed thousands, and left the indelible mark of Spain's language and religion for centuries to come. 
 
 'Thomas tells the story of missionary zeal and military plunder with a zest worthy of a swashbuckling historical novelist' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The Times 
 
 'A riveting story of adventure and cruelty ... a considerable scholarly accomplishment' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Ben Wilson, Daily Telegraph 
 
 'This monumental history is an extraordinary achievement ... A beguilingly-written account of a fascinating subject' 
 
 Alexander Samson, The Times Higher Education Supplement 
 
 Hugh Thomas is the author of, among other books, The Spanish Civil War (1962), which won the Somerset Maugham Award, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (1971), An Unfinished History of the World (1979), and the first volume of his Spanish Empire trilogy, Rivers of Gold (2003).

In 2008 Hugh Thomas was made a Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in France and in 2009 received the Calvo Serer Prize, The Boccacio Prize, and Nonino Prize in Italy. He is the author of, among other books, The Spanish Civil War, which won the Somerset Maugham Award, The Suez Affair, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom, An Unfinished History of the World, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés and the Fall of Old Mexico, The Slave Trade and the first volume of his Spanish Empire trilogy, Rivers of Gold, which was reissued to coincide with publication of the second volume.

Charles V, Emperor of Europe and the New World, is the central figure in the second volume of Hugh Thomas's great history of the Spanish Empire. It begins with the return of the remnants of Magellan's expedition around the world in 1522 and ends with Charles's death in 1558. In the decades between, the Spaniards conquer Guatemala, Yucatan, Columbia, Venezuela, Peru and Chile, and control the banks of the mighty River Plate; the audacious conquistador Francisco de Orellana journeys down the Amazon, Cabeza de Vaca walks from Florida to Mexico, Juan Vazquez Coronado pioneers into New Mexico and Hernando de Soto vainly pursues worldly riches in Florida, Mississippi and Georgia. 
 
Hugh Thomas writes vividly, conveying the conquerors' almost disbelieving sense of what they were achieving. The discovery and subjugation of so many native peoples raised enormous controversy within Spain about how they should be treated, a debate Thomas explores perceptively, with an eye for resonances have lasted centuries. Hugh Thomas brings alive one of the most extraordinary and influential moments in High Renaissance and world history.

The Rise of the Spanish Empire

Rivers of Gold

The first part of his trilogy on the Spanish Empire, Hugh Thomas's Rivers of Gold brings the rise of Spain's global empire vividly to life, capturing the spirit of an ebullient age. 
 
 Inspired by hopes of both riches and of converting native people to Christianity, the Spanish adventurers of the fifteenth century convinced themselves that an Earthly Paradise existed in the Caribbean. This is the story of the hundreds of conquistadors who set sail on the precarious journey across the Atlantic - taking with them wheat, the horse, the guitar and the wheel as well as guns, malaria and slaves - to create an empire that made Spain the envy of the world. 
 
 'Affirms Hugh Thomas's record as one of the most productive and wide-ranging historians of modern times' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The New York Times 
 
 'Splendid ... bold and strong in its outlines, rich in fasinating details' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Paul Johnson, Literary Review 
 
 'So steeped is he in the spirit of the time, so familiar with its people and places that we almost feel he must have been there at the time' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Sunday Telegraph 
 
 'A vivid, dramatic and compelling narrative' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Arthur Schlesinger, Jr 
 
 'As a historian, Thomas is master of the big picture ... Rivers of Gold sweeps us restlessly on' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Jonathan Keates, Spectator 
 
 'An epic history of an extraordinary age' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Michael Kerrigan, Scotsman 
 
 Hugh Thomas is the author of, among other books, The Spanish Civil War (1962) which won the Somerset Maugham Award, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés and the Fall of Old Mexico (1994), An Unfinished History of the World (1979) and The Slave Trade (1997). The second volume of his planned trilogy on the Spanish Empire, The Golden Age: The Spanish Empire of Charles V was published in 2011.

Hugh Thomas is the author of, among other books, The Spanish Civil War (1962) which won the Somerset Maugham Award, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés and the Fall of Old Mexico (1994), An Unfinished History of the World (1979) and The Slave Trade (1997). From 1966 to 1975 he was Professor of History at the University of Reading. He was Director of the Centre for Policy Studies in London from 1979 to 1991, and he became a life peer as Baron Thomas of Swynnerton in 1981.

Inspired by hopes of both riches and of converting native people to Christianity, the Spanish adventurers of the fifteenth century convinced themselves that an earthly paradise existed in the Caribbean. This is the story of the hundreds of conquistadors who set sail on the precarious journey across the Atlantic - taking with them wheat, the horse, the guitar and the wheel as well as guns, malaria and slaves - to create an empire that made Spain the envy of the world. In this epic history Hugh Thomas brings Spain's rise to empire vividly to life, capturing the spirit of an ebullient age.

A History

Cuba

From award-winning historian Hugh Thomas, Cuba: A History is the essential work for understanding one of the most fascinating and controversial countries in the world. 
 
 Hugh Thomas's acclaimed book explores the whole sweep of Cuban history from the British capture of Havana in 1762 through the years of Spanish and United States domination, down to the twentieth century and the extraordinary revolution of Fidel Castro. 
 
 Throughout this period of over two hundred years, Hugh Thomas analyses the political, economic and social events that have shaped Cuban history with extraordinary insight and panache, covering subjects ranging from sugar, tobacco and education to slavery, war and occupation. 
 
 Encyclopaedic in range and breathtaking in execution, Cuba is surely one of the seminal works of world history. 
 
 'An astonishing feat ... the author does more to explain the phenomenon of Fidel's rise to power than anybody else has done so far' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Spectator 
 
 'Brilliant' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The New York Times 
 
 'Immensely readable. Thomas's notion of history's scope is generous, for he has not limited himself to telling old political and military events; he describes Cuban culture at all stages ... not merely accessible but absorbing. His language is witty but never mocking, crisp but never harsh' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;New Yorker 
 
 'Thomas seems to have talked to everybody not dead or in jail, and read everything. He is scrupulously fair' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Time 
 
 Hugh Thomas is the author of, among other books, The Spanish Civil War (1962), which won the Somerset Maugham Award, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (1971), An Unfinished History of the World (1979), and the first two volumes of his Spanish Empire trilogy, Rivers of Gold (2003) and The Golden Age (2010).

Hugh Thomas is the author of, among other books, The Spanish Civil War (1962), which won the Somerset Maugham Award, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (1971), An Unfinished History of the World (1979), and the first volume of his Spanish Empire trilogy, Rivers of Gold (2003). In 2008 he was made a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in France and in 2009 received the Calvo Serer Prize in Spain and the Bonino Prize in Italy. He was director of the Centre for Policy Studies in London from 1979 to 1991, and he became a life peer as Baron Thomas of Swynnerton in 1981.

First published in 1971, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom is still the most important and authoritative book on this complex and often geopolitically significant country, marrying Hugh Thomas's unique skills as arguably the world's leading historian of Spanish-speaking peoples with an intricate and absorbing subject. This book explores the whole sweep of Cuban history, from the British capture of Havana in 1762 through the years of Spanish and American domination up to the twentieth century and the extraordinary revolution of Fidel Castro. Throughout the 200-year period of its scope, the book analyses the political, economic and social events that have shaped Cuban history with extraordinary insight and panache. Encyclopaedic in range and breathtaking in execution, Cuba is surely one of the seminal works of world history.

The Spanish Civil War

The definitive history of the Spanish Civil War, now in its 4th edition, completely reset and with updates throughout

Since its first publication, Hugh Thomas's The Spanish Civil War has become established as the definitive one-volume history of a conflict that continues to provoke intense controversy today. 
 
 What was it that roused left-wing sympathizers from all over the world to fight against Franco between 1936 and 1939? Why did the British and US governments refuse to intervene? And why did the Republican cause collapse so violently? Now revised and updated, Hugh Thomas's classic account presents the most objective and unbiased analysis of a passionate struggle where fascism and democracy, communism and Catholicism were at stake - and which was as much an international war as a Spanish one. 
 
 'Remarkable ... a definitive account' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Sunday Times 
 
 'A prodigy of a book ... about the most heroic and pitiful story of the twentieth century' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Michael Foot 
 
 'His masterwork' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Independent 
 
 'A full, vivid and deeply serious treatment of a great subject' &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The New York Times Book Review 
 
 Hugh Thomas is the author of, among other books, The Spanish Civil War (1962), which won the Somerset Maugham Award, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (1971), An Unfinished History of the World (1979), and the first volume of his Spanish Empire trilogy, Rivers of Gold (2003).

HUGH THOMAS (Lord Thomas of Swynnerton) is the author of a number of highly successful histories, most famously CUBA, THE SLAVE TRADE and THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR.

Hugh Thomas

This is history as it used to be: adventurous men (and a few women), masses of action, little analysis but racy gossip and colourful scene setting. We could often be reading one of the tales the colonists themselves sent back

Literary power is a vital part of a great historian's armoury. As in his earlier books, Thomas demonstrates here that he has this in abundance. But equally important is [his] sense of perspective ... With all its flaws, Thomas argues, the Spanish Empire left an extraordinarily rich legacy

World Without End is full of illuminating detail, drawn from painstaking work

Hugh Thomas

Praise for World Without End

This is history as it used to be: adventurous men (and a few women), masses of action, little analysis but racy gossip and colourful scene setting. We could often be reading one of the tales the colonists themselves ...

Literary power is a vital part of a great historian's armoury. As in his earlier books, Thomas demonstrates here that he has this in abundance. But equally important is [his] sense of perspective ... With all its fl ...

World Without End is full of illuminating detail, drawn from painstaking work

This is history as it used to be: adventurous men (and a few women), masses of action, little analysis but racy gossip and colourful scene setting. We could often be reading one of the tales the colonists themselves ...

Literary power is a vital part of a great historian's armoury. As in his earlier books, Thomas demonstrates here that he has this in abundance. But equally important is [his] sense of perspective ... With all its fl ...

World Without End is full of illuminating detail, drawn from painstaking work

This is history as it used to be: adventurous men (and a few women), masses of action, little analysis but racy gossip and colourful scene setting. We could often be reading one of the tales the colonists themselves ...

Literary power is a vital part of a great historian's armoury. As in his earlier books, Thomas demonstrates here that he has this in abundance. But equally important is [his] sense of perspective ... With all its fl ...

World Without End is full of illuminating detail, drawn from painstaking work

Books by Hugh Thomas

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