September 8, 2014
The reserved, devoutly Catholic Isabella seized the Castilian throne in 1474, when she was just 23 years old. Having relegated her unwise husband Ferdinand to consort status, Isabella enjoyed major military successes, popularity with both her advisors and her subjects, and significant territorial acquisitions in the New World. Downey (The Woman Behind the New Deal) argues that Isabella served as a true paragon of Machiavelli’s good prince; from her demonstrations of political and battlefield strength in quelling the Ottoman Empire’s efforts at expansion to negotiating treaties and her offspring’s politically fraught marriage contracts. Downey shows how Isabella’s reign prepared Renaissance Spain’s rise to superpower status by consolidating multiple, often ineffectually led, kingdoms into one, all the while patronizing exploration and art. Perfect for both historical novices and experts in European history, this solidly-researched, engaging description of Isabella’s achievements also humanizes her through discussion of her intricate relationships with combative family members and allows readers to see Isabella’s fingerprints on Renaissance culture and religion.
June 15, 2014
Remember Spain's mighty monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella? Downey, finalist for the 2009 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for The Woman Behind the New Deal, argues that it was all Isabella, who went up against not just her unpredictable (but beloved) husband but a nasty brother so that she could seize control of Castile and Leon. Then she pushed the Moors and Jews from Spain and launched a worldwide empire. Downey did new research, often in primary sources heretofore locked up behind the Iron Curtain, to present Isabella as a significant force in shaping the modern world.
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 15, 2014
Queen Isabella I of Castile (1401-1504), according to Dorney (The Woman Behind the New Deal), was one of the most competent rulers of the male-dominated Middle Ages. Her authority in the affairs of her realm is buried in the formula "Ferdinand and Isabella," which she wholeheartedly endorsed. Yet Isabella established her dominance at the beginning of her reign, informing her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon of her accession only after she had been publicly acclaimed. Downey (ID?)argues that many of Isabella's actions weren't always sound; her persecution of Jews and Moors tarnished her reputation, as did Spain's treatment of New World natives. Here readers see Isabella's actions from the viewpoint of her age. The author is, at times, too trusting of the testimony of the various partisan chroniclers of Isabella's reign, but she presents a well-written, balanced study. Excursuses lay out the back history and explain the period culture and mind-set. VERDICT This engaging biography will appeal to casual readers of history but will not offer new information to scholars. [See Prepub Alert, 6/2/14.]--David Keymer, Modesto, CA
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.