The Bourbons, The Napoleonic Crisis & The Loss of Empire #982680

The Bourbons, The Napoleonic Crisis & The Loss of Empire explores one of the most dramatic and transformative periods in Spanish history. From the rise of the Bourbon dynasty and the reforms of enlightened monarchs to the chaos of Napoleon's invasion, this volume follows Spain through war, revolution, constitutional experimentation, civil conflict, and imperial collapse.

Readers will discover how the War of the Spanish Succession reshaped the kingdom, how the Nueva Planta Decrees centralized royal power, and how Charles III attempted to modernize Spain through enlightened reform. The book then examines the political crisis that led to the Mutiny of Aranjuez, the Abdications of Bayonne, and the popular resistance of the Dos de Mayo Uprising, which ignited the Peninsular War.

This volume continues with the historic Cortes of Cádiz and the groundbreaking Constitution of 1812, followed by the controversial return of Ferdinand VII and the fierce ideological struggle that culminated in the First Carlist War. Finally, the book concludes with the Spanish-American War of 1898, the conflict that ended Spain's overseas empire and forced the nation to confront its future.