Fascinating at times, but primarily stuffy and pedantic with poor narrative development

Review of Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan by Hugh Thomas

This book has an odd mix of excessive detail, lack of analysis, and engaging stories that never quite add up to a coherent narrative. I started it with the greatest enthusiasm – I was reading about a dazzling array of personalities I dimly remembered from middle school texts. Unfortunately, towards the middle of the book I felt lost in all the aristocra…