The Count-Duke of Olivares: Statesman in an Age of Decline

J. H. Elliott’s biography of Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares is more than just an account of the life and career of Philip IV’s chief minister. Through it the author also shows how Spanish leaders in the early 17th century grappled with the decline of their kingdom, one stretched thin by wars and other commitments throughout Europe. For over two decades Olivares sought to arrest this decline, pursuing policies designed to revitalize Spain and shore up her preeminent position on the continent. Yet as Elliott shows, such a task proved impossible, as Olivares was forced to compromise many of his long term reforms in favor of the short term expedients necessary simply to maintain existing efforts. As a result, many of Olivares’s victories were only fleeting, as in the end he proved unable to arrest the systemic factors bringing down Spain’s vast empire. This is a superb political biography, one that is essential reading for anyone interested in Spanish history or the history of early modern Europe.