Emperor: A New Life of Charles V

Geoffrey Parker's biography of Charles V is, generally speaking, excellent. Professor Parker's assessment of the man, his reign, and his impact is, broadly speaking, fair, even if one cannot agree with it all. It is well-organized and it is, for the most part, well-written -- with one major exception: The practice of quoting English contemporaries in their contemporary vernacular. Translating from Latin, French, Spanish and other sources who wrote in foreign languages is done in modern English language publications without a second thought, and without any suggestion that the work is somehow less for it. Why authors and editors choose not to apply the same standard to early forms of Engllish, which is almost always a burden to the modern reader, is incomprehensible. And, in the case of this work, it really diminishes the pleasure of reading.

It is a long, serious, detailed biography, of this singular man, so high profiled and so introspectived at the same time, orphan of father and of a "living" mentaly disturbed distant mothet, who got , still very young, by inheritance and several family successive deaths, an enormous Empire and became the ruler of Europe . Since the beginning, he had to deal, directly, with the consequences of the successful birth of protestantism in his own lands, , to fight the Turks, to govern by distance his new America empires ( Mexico and Peru) and to face, keeping " comand", the other political players of the time, such as France and the several Popes .

This new biography of Charles V received good reviews in the press and I looked forward to reading it. However, I abandoned the book after reading about 15% of the text. Instead of shaping a meaningful presentation of Charles’ early life, the author relies on masses of scattered quotations from contemporary sources – although they are exhaustive, they are so muddled in presentation as to confuse the reader. For example, Charles had younger brother Ferdinand, mentioned at the beginning of the book but then ignored for many pages – when Ferdinand resurfaces it is quite confusing as to whether the author is writing about young Ferdinand or his grandfather, Ferdinand of Aragon. Another annoying aspect of the author’s use of quotations is that quotations from sources writing in English are all presented in their circa 1510 spellings. Initially whimsical, after a while the strange spellings become a Grade A nuisance. Perhaps others will enjoy the book more than I did, although I am very interested in the period of history occupied by Charles.

A magnificent, sweeping and utterly fascinating biography of Charles V, ruler of Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands. The author, Geoffrey Parker, proves himself once again to be a master historian as he delves into every corner of Charles' life - a life that Charles' helped illustrate himself with more than 100,000 signed documents. To read what King Charles thought himself via the many written letters, decrees, notes, etc. is brought to life by Parker's superb writing. If you are interested in this period of time(the 1500's), this is a must-read.

Geoffrey Parker, one of the premier (and most prolific) historians on the Early Modern Period and Hapsburg Spain, has undertaken the Herculean task of writing the definitive biography of Emperor Charles V. The book is quite comprehensive and presents many unique insights regarding the Emperor's personal and political life. The quality of Parker's prose is exceptional and each chapter reads seamlessly. I very much enjoyed reading it. This biography also nicely complements Parker's biography of the Emperor's son, Philip II. A job well done, Geoffrey Parker!P.S. I write this review on February 24 - Emperor Charles V's birthday, the day of the Battle of Pavia (one of his greatest victories), and the day of his coronation by Pope Clement VII in Bologna. A momentous day in his life!

Charles V was a complex character. He was selfish and arrogant but also loving and lovable. The story of his life is full of interest and importance.

The book contains very little about the personal life of Charles V. It describes mainly his military campaigns. But I was more interested in him as a person not as a warrior.

Geoffrey Parker is very learned about this period and the booked is well-written. The book is a narrative rather than thematic one. It would have been nice to see a comparison with the challenges of Henry VIII and Francis I (even if Charles faced unique issues), but that is a quibble.

Extraordinarily good, fresh, look at the greatest ruler of his age - and, though full of detail, the book is never ponderous in tone. The author is of course careful not to let us think of Charles V in contemporary terms - the Emperor's treatment of his mother, a reigning Queen in her own right, was manipulative and self-serving. On the other hand, his ability to use people - often his relatives - to keep the Habsburg family "show on the road" was shrewd and successful. He was cultured and refined, high-handed and brutal; all of this is carefully diagnosed and articulated - a superb read for the historian and others interested in the history of this era.

This is a history book with a difference. Because of the tremendous amount of research done by the author, you really get to know and understand Charles V and all the other personalities of his era. There are constant quotes from letters and official documents as well as testimonies relating to Charles and his entourage.This is a very large book and requires a certain amount of commitment to read it all, but on so many levels it is really worth it.

My head hurts from trying to read all the old English quotes in the book. Completely unnecessary. Sometimes you just have to read pages and pages of comments from English ambassadors, and it just destroys the flow of the book. Otherwise it's a decent bibliography, but honestly i'm still waiting to finish it, as seeing a page of old English makes me close it every time

I study Early Modern History at a postgraduate level and Parker's book is the perfect equilibrium between a well-researched piece of writing and accessible to the general audience. Despite what Parker mentions in his introduction Charles V is not a mainstream personality nor is there much attention in popular publishing to any of his contemporaries except Henry VIII.It is difficult to compile a biography of Charles V; the geographic and linguistic diversity of sources does add a huge task to the author and this should be congratulated. Compared to another biography of Charles V I recently read Parker goes beyond Charles V's activities during the Reformation and his dynastic politics - essentially this is a comprehensive biography with a fairly equal weight given to the duration of his life. Probably the best was his work on Charles V's childhood and early years. Overall a good book!

This is the story of a great historical figure, told in the engrossing detail of the everyday realities of long distance travel an communication, raising monies and leading armies, diplomacy, strategic marriages, unwelcome deaths, betrayal, religious fanatics and enthusiasts. I particularly enjoyed the detail of the American conquest.