About the Author

J. N. Hillgarth has taught for many years at the University of Toronto and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and has received awards and honors from a wide variety of distinguished institutions in Europe and North America.

Reviews

"Judicious, thorough and perceptive, this volume makes for stimulating and enjoyable reading. It is highly recommended for students of the early modern Spanish world and for Hispanists in general who are interested in the historical bases for outsiders' views of Spain."
--The Americas--Ida Altman, University of New Orleans "The Americas"

". . . a magnificent and carefully researched compendium of information on the reading and mis-reading [sic] of early modern Spain by contemporary observers, which will profitably be plundered by historians of both Spain and Europe for a long time to come."
--J. H. Elliott, Oriel College, Oxford, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, April 2002
--J. H. Elliott, Oriel College, Oxford "Journal of Ecclesiastical History" (9/19/2002 12:00:00 AM)

". . . an excellent general perspective and a minutely researched study, based largely on reworking standard sources but also on considerable new material."
--Henry Kamen, TLS, June 16, 2001
--Henry Kamen "TLS" (6/27/2001 12:00:00 AM)

"A valuable contribution on the increasingly pertinent question of Spain's position in early modern Europe and, by extension, a historian's approach to the field at large. The book is also beautifully written, and it deserves, and will surely receive, a wide and admiring readership."
--Bruce Taylor, History, Summer 2001
--Bruce Taylor "History" (10/5/2001 12:00:00 AM)

"Based upon an astonishing array of archival and printed primary materials and secondary sources, this is a scholarly tour de force that belongs in every academic and large public library."
--M. A. Burkholder, University of Missouri, St. Louis, Choice, June 2001
--M. A. Burkholder, University of Missouri, St. Louis "Choice" (5/3/2001 12:00:00 AM)

"In many ways, the book is indispensable: it reflects, far better than any existing study, the complex relationship between Spain and the rest of Europe during the early modern era."
--Richard Kagan, The International History Review, Volume 24, No. 1 (2002)
--Richard Kagan "The International History Review" (4/11/2002 12:00:00 AM)

"In this ambitious and wide-ranging study, J. N. Hillgarth explores non-Spaniards' perceptions of the country between 1500 and 1700 and seeks to explain how an increasingly negative view of Spain became engrained in the wider European consciousness. . . . Drawing on a vast array of sources--archival, printed, literary and artistic--Hillgarth's broad canvas teems with colour and life: among the many beguiling scenes provided we find women washing their clothes in the River Manzanares, ice skaters frolicking on the frozen waters of the Retiro lake, and the harmless 'buffooneries' of a merry band of Franciscans, dressed up as shepherds, attending Midnight Mass. . . . [T]here is much to admire and enjoy in this volume which should prove of the greatest interest to academics and the general reader alike."
--Simon Barton, University of Exeter, English Historical Review, September 2002
--Simon Barton, University of Exeter "English Historical Review" (12/5/2002 12:00:00 AM)

"The profusion of citations and anecdotes in this impressively erudite book yields a mine of information based on prodigious reading and archival research."
--James Amelang, American Historical Review, February 2002
--James Amelang "American Historical Review" (3/15/2002 12:00:00 AM)