Crisis in an Atlantic Empire

"Taken together, the four works are a vital reference point for the study of the Hispanic Atlantic in its period of resurgence and crisis in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Crisis in an Atlantic Empire is a fine culmination, a gripping, learned, and revelatory work that makes the reader look anew at the Hispanic world in the age of revolution."

"In a sophisticated, literate, and detailed analysis, eminent historians Barbara Stein and Stanley Stein dissect the interwoven responses between 1808 and 1810 in Spain and New Spain (Mexico) to the challenges resulting from Napoleon's invasion of the Iberian peninsula and the Bourbon monarchs' abdications... Based heavily on extensive archival and published primary sources, this deftly argued, magisterial work, along with its three preceding volumes— Silver, Trade, and War; Apogee of Empire; and Edge of Crisis—belongs in every academic and large public library. Essential."

"This book is a gold mine for the sheer amount of primary sources brought to the surface...[and] a valuable contribution to the shelf of any historian dealing with the independence era in any of the Spanish colonies."

"The authors' research is clear and meticulous, with extensive quotes from sources in Spanish and French... it is a book that belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in European expansion, Atlantic maritime competence, and Hispanic revolutions."