Count

Don Gaspar de Guzman, Count-Duke of Olivares (1587-1645) was the principal minister and favourite of Philip IV of Spain, and for two decades he guided the destiny of the country that was still the greatest power in the world. In this masterly biography, foreign, domestic and personal concerns are skilfully woven together into a sustained narrative on the grand scale and it has come to be seen as a landmark in the study of a man and an age. J. H. Elliott is Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. His books include 'Imperial Spain, 1469-1716', 'Spain and its World', 'Empires of the Atlantic World', and 'History in the Making'.