Book dossier

Philip of Spain

by Henry Kamen

This book is the first complete biography of Philip II, King of Spain (1527-1598). Philip II is seen as a cruel king, tyrant, ambitious and identified with repression and religious intolerance. Henry Kamen contradicts this official view. Based on documents and unpublished sources, Kamen presents us a new and startling perspective and draws a psychological portrait of the monarch, placing him in the social, cultural and religious context of his time.