Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466

This book is about the person better known as Queen Isabella who helped back Christopher Columbus' voyages to the "New World." It mostly deals with her earlier years and the incredible complexity of the political webs that she had to pass through as she was growing up. The terror of the Bubonic Plague is also discussed briefly.

Although a lot of the book is about her daily live, the majority of it is involved in tying that daily life into the political problems, betrayals and dangers that she faced and is interesting in that respect.

As with the other books in the series, there is a historical section which is very balanced in its portrayal of her, point out both good things that she did and bad things that she did as Queen.

Main Index

Dear America index page

Young adult Index