The Spanish Empire

This book brings together the history of the Spanish Empire and its entire imperial geography across four continents, from its inception at the end of the 15th century to its end in the 20th century.

The authors trace the Empire’s main characteristics, including the colonial societies shaped under its rule. They focus on the motivations for imperial expansion, the conquered populations and economies, and the transformations that the empire’s nature and its governance underwent over time. Central to this transformation were the first colonial centuries, which strongly marked the social relations that would prevail in the history of the various territories. Starting with Castile’s European Expansion and Atlantic and Pacific expansion, the book moves through the chronology of the global empire, taking in the wars of Independence, the empire’s radical change and African “substitute” imperialism.

The Spanish Empire will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students of Global, Imperial, Modern and Latin American History, and will be especially relevant to courses on Spanish imperialism, Global History of Empires, or History of Europe in its global contexts.