01743nam a2200181Ia 450000500170000000800410001702000180005808200200007610000170009624500210011326000320013430000140016650012280018065000120140894200120142099900190143295201100145120250728154340.0250728s9999    xx            000 0 und d  a9780300102833  a949.203092bKAM  aKamen, Henry 4aThe Duke of Alba  bYale University Pressc2004  a238 pages  aAn engrossing biography that attempts to fathom the motivations of an infamous sixteenth-century Spanish general Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, the third duke of Alba (1507-82), is known to history as "the butcher of Flanders." The general who carried out Philip II's repressive policies in the Netherlands, he was responsible for the massacre of thousands of men, women, and children, considering it better to lay waste an entire country than leave it in the hands of heretics. Alba came to represent for contemporaries as well as for future generations the unacceptable face of Spanish imperialism. In this intriguing re-evaluation, Henry Kamen narrates the duke's personal history, looking beyond the conventional image to reveal motives and to explain rather than simply to condemn. Kamen examines the early years of Alba's life, his travels over the whole of Europe, and the complex military and political career that made him Spain's leading general of the imperial age. Drawing on the duke's rich and expressive surviving correspondence, Kamen explores Alba's beliefs and considers his infamous actions within the contexts of his time and of the monarchs--Emperor Charles V and King Philip II of Spain--whom he served.  aHistory  cENGLISH  c577685d577685  00104070aACLbACLc7Bd2025-07-28l0o949.203092 KAMp124491r2025-07-28 15:43:40w2025-07-28yENGLISH