The Spanish empire was the greatest the world had seen since Rome. This final volume of Hugh Thomas’s acclaimed trilogy describes how conquistadores, viceroys, nobles, inquisitors and priests ran a vast global empire stretching from the Americas to the Philippines, in an extraordinary epic of war, riches and religion.

‘Thomas paints the protagonists of empire in the richest colours … he writes almost as if he were himself a courtier relaying the gossip, trials and genealogy of the great men carving out and running Philip’s empire.’ Ben Macintyre,

The Times

‘Lively, fascinating … Thomas brings the era of Philip II to life with his customary clarity, fluency and attention to detail.’ David Abulafia,

Prospect

‘Triumphant … Had Macaulay been the historian of Mexico or Chile, he might have written like this’. Andrew Breeze,

The Tablet