On Bourbon Spain

I was hoping to like Lynch’s book better than J. H. Elliott’s Imperial Spain, 1469 - 1716. As it turns out, I didn’t. Although Elliott’s book is older, he tends to do a better job of surveying Spain as a whole. While much of the book is dedicated to events in Toledo and the Escorial, there’s also glances elsewhere. Lynch’s book, on the other hand, feels almost entirely like “dynastic” history. The view here is almost entirely from the monarchy and the monarch’s bureaucrats. However, unlike Elliott’s text, there is a bit more focus on the Americas here. The bulk of that is in regards to economics, but I did like Lynch’s discussion of the Bourbon reforms.

All in all, this is an adequate introduction from the politico-economic angle, but I’m sure a better text could be written. As far as I can tell, it has not yet been written, so somebody please get on that!