This handbook provides an overview of the history and historiography of Madrid from its establishment as the court in 1561 to the present, with essays by leading scholars on a range of topics across culture, economics, politics, society, and urban development.

It offers a useful introduction to the main outlines of the city’s history for beginning scholars, identifies key lines of recent scholarship and debate for more advanced investigators, and provides substantial bibliographic and archival documentation to encourage future research. As a whole, the collection will allow readers to see the larger picture of the history of Madrid across five centuries and various disciplines, emphasizing its individual character as well as the areas where it fits best into broader Spanish and European currents.

The volume is aimed at scholars of urban history and those who specialize in the history of Spain from the sixteenth century to the present.