“Jean Andrews’ highly readable biography provides a fresh and exciting approach to the life experiences of the Habsburg emperor Charles V, from his childhood at the Burgundy court and his reign as king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor on to his final abdication and death. Visually tracing the monarch’s emotional and political maturation through contemporary portraits and illustrations, the book insightfully explores Charles’ singular devotion to chivalric ideals and the arduous road he faced in governing his vast empire. Witha focus on the cultural as well as political consequences of his reign, it probes his complex relations with female relatives as much as with his formidable adversaries: Henry VIII, François I, and Suleiman the Magnificent. Further, Andrews’ keen examination of Charles’ involvement in the religious reforms incited by Martin Luther and Henry VIII and its detailed narrative of the controversial conquests of new worlds enrich and expand the book’s contextual background. Offering new perspectives in early modern history, this welcome biography reformulates the emperor’s trials and triumphs within the greater geopolitical sphere of influence that he helped create yet ultimately relinquished.”

Anne J. Cruz, University of Miami