This sweeping volume of The Historians' History of the World traces Spain and Portugal from their earliest peoples to the upheavals of the modern age. It opens with the Iberian peninsula's ancient inhabitants, Phoenician and Greek trading colonies, Celtic settlement, and Carthaginian conquest, then follows Rome, the Goths, and the long Christian-Muslim struggle that forged medieval Spain. From the Cid and the Reconquista to Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus, Charles V, and Philip II, the narrative charts the rise of royal power, imperial ambition, and religious conflict alongside dynastic crisis and regional resistance. The book also explores the darker forces behind Iberian history, including the Inquisition, persecution of Jews, torture, censorship, and despotism. Its account of the Peninsular War is especially vivid, portraying Spanish outrage at French occupation, the rise of provincial juntas, Joseph Bonaparte's failed rule, and the hard-won contributions of guerrillas and Wellington. Portugal's story is equally rich, from Prince Henry and Vasco da Gama to empire, foreign domination, restoration, reform, revolution, and constitutional change. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
