I found that this book gives much less information about the Siglo de Oro than I expected. The book seems to fall between stools, and it is not clear to me what the author's exact intention might be.
This is not an historical narrative, though some kind of narrative, even a time-line, would have been helpful in view of the length of the period covered. Instead, the book is a series of "episodes" or "pictures". For example, there is a description of the journey of Isabella of Portugal to Spain for her marriage to Carlos I in Chapter 3. Here a lot of detail is given about an episode that is not particularly significant; if it gives you something of the "essence" of the period, that is fine, if not, not.
Some of the "pictures" are of cultural figures, but this is not a book of appreciation of art or literature. No attempt is made to give an idea of the development of the novel (apart from calling Don Quixote the first modern novel) or of drama (but there is a little information on the theatre in the context of Tirso de Molina in Chapter 18). Too little is said about Garcilaso to do much to strengthen my pitifully weak understanding of his poetry, and I am left not knowing whether the trope of "tomando ora la pluma, ora la espada" is still alive and well, or dead and buried. For painting, I am happy to stay with Janis Tomlinson, who I find has much to teach.
Nor is this book one of historical analysis of social and economic trends. This is a crucial period in Spain's transition from medieval to modern, but would you know that from reading this book? If you want to know how Spain changed by becoming a world power, from being two kingdoms with influence in the Western Mediterranean, this is not the best place to start. The effect of the inflow of bullion from America is mentioned briefly in the context of royal finance. The topic of the expulsion of the moriscos is interesting for its assertion of the extent to which the expellees returned home, but it does not form part of any historical study of the state of the economy. The study of Don Quixote is focused on the literary approach of the interplay between reality and fiction; there is no attempt to identify actual social trends illustrated in it.
You may be pleased with the variety and detail of the little "episodes" in this book, as the jacket blurb claims you will be, but in my opinion you would still be left very much on your own in forming your impression of the nature of this period. I feel there is a very regrettable lack of authorial involvement in providing a deep and thorough insight into the richness of a period, which encompassed political rise and fall, high cultural achievement, intense religiosity, an economy that seems not to have made the most of opportunities, and a society in flux.
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