FERDINAND AND ISABELLA

by Hermann Kesten ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1946

Of royal progress, in the corrupt and corruptible world of the late 15th century, as Isabella, through faith and genius, surmounts the omnipresent barriers of birth, polities, family and marriage to attain what to her was not only rightful, but her due heritage- the rank of Queen. The European world under the triple domination of the Inquisition, the Plague and the drives for world power is the setting for an overpowering portrait of a girl who dedicated herself to achieving her ambition after her brother, Henry IV, had murdered their younger brother, Alfonsc. Pawn of her enemies, gathering loyalty by any and all promises, she married Ferdinand and, throneless and homeless through poverty, is finally successful in her goal with the death of Henry. Though she kept Ferdinand as powerless as possible, he learned how to subdue her, and together they lined their coffers with the full fury of the Inquisition. Through greed and arrogance, Isabella ruined Spain's chances for holding world power, even with the gift of the New World from Columbus; she lived to see her dreams of more power through her children's marriages, collapse...The author of The Twins of Nuremburg meticulously recasts past history, emitting no detail of religious, political, personal interpretation, in a lengthy fictionalisation. Historians may quarrel with his interpretation; his details seem soundly based on scholarship.

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1946

ISBN: 1432556975

Page Count: -

Publisher: Current Books

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1946

Categories: FICTION