Goodwin, Robert (Get this book)A bright, wide-ranging chronicle of the golden age of the Spanish empire. Though Goodwin denies that he has written a magisterial work filled with scholarly detail but rather a book for the "idle reader," it is a well-researched, intelligent, and easily understood history of the first global empire on Earth. The author divides the work into two sections: "Gold" deals with the historical, economic, and political history, and "Glitter" explores literary and artistic works. Any student of the Renaissance should read this excellent work showing Spain's enormous impact o n the arts and, with her vast American empire, the world.--Kirkus