3 Review(s)

The historical study of war in the Spain of Philip II forms the starting point for the articles in this volume. They approach this not so much from a military angle, but as a problem of organization, procurement and finance. In a sense, the articles represent an assessment of the effectiveness of the Spanish government and so, given the apparent precocity of government growth in 16th-century Spain, they can also be seen as a critical commentary on the operational capabilities of the early-modern absolutist state. Six of the essays here focus on the Spanish Armada, in terms of its political and military objectives, but demonstrating how these were conditioned by basic systems limitations, not least in the procurement of suitable cannon. In the final articles Dr Thompson turns to the impact of war and its financing on the social structure, bearing in particular on the definition of nobility (and its sale), and on local democracy, and making full use, here as elsewhere, of the relatively unexplored local sources. Two of the papers here appear for the first time in English, whilst a third has been newly prepared for this volume. L'etude historique de la guerre sous Philippe II, roi d'Espagne, est A la base des articles contenus dans le present recueil. Ceci est aborde non tant sous l'angle militaire, mais comme un probleme d'organisation, d'acquisition de materiel et de financement. En un certain sens, ces documents representent une evaluation de l'efficacite du gouvernement espagnol et peuvent par consequent, etant donnee l'apparente precocite de la croissance gouvernementale en Espagne au 16 siecle, A?tre consideres comme un commentaire critique quant aux capacites operationnelles de l'Etat absolu proto-moderne. Une demi douzaine des essais font l'examen de l'Armada espagnole, en terme d'objectifs politiques et militaires, tout en demontrant comment ces derniers etaient conditionnes par des contraintes structurales,