Isabel of Castile and the making of the Spanish nation, 1451-1504

A political biography and historical survey that follows a Castilian queen from contested succession through consolidation of royal authority. It recounts civil war and external wars, administrative and military reforms, the campaign that ended Muslim rule in Granada, and measures to enforce religious conformity including the Inquisition and expulsions. The book also covers royal patronage of Atlantic voyages, dynastic and family affairs, involvement in Italian wars, and contemporary Castilian literature, weaving chronological narrative with institutional analysis to show how regional fragmentation was transformed into a more centralized Spanish monarchy.