When, why and how did Spain fall from its pre-eminent position as a leading world power in the seventeenth century? These fundamental questions have exercised the minds of distinguished historians such as Prescott, Merriman, Hamilton, Braudel, Vilar, Vicens Vives, Elliott and Kamen and produced a prolific amount of writing. But while the subject of Spain's decline has been subject to rigorous historical research, the debate between scholars underpinning it has not thus far been analyzed from a historiographical perspective. What are the methodologies and schools of inquiry that have shaped the discourse? How have historians' perceptions been influenced by time and circumstance? Why has the 'Two Spains' phenomenon endured as a historical paradigm against which to measure its fortunes? These are some of the issues this book will address in its appraisal of the historians of Spain's decline and their discourse.

Reviews

Rawlings' well informed, finely structured and clearly written book makes a valuable
contribution to the study of one of the main themes in Spanish historiography.

All in all, Rawlings' book will be an indispensable tool for scholars
and teachers of early modern Spain.

General editor's foreword
Preface
Introduction
1. The sixteenth century: the Black Legend
2. The seventeenth century: arbitrismo and decline
3. The eighteenth century: enlightened opinion
4. The nineteenth century: liberalism and conservatism
5. The early twentieth century: imperialism and decline
6. The mid-twentieth century: inter-disciplinary perspectives
7. The later twentieth century: the general crisis of the seventeenth century
8. The current debate: decline reappraised
Further reading
Index