This elaborate attempt at a psychological portrait by Michael de Ferdinandy of the University of Puerto Rico will not please those who have read Karl Brandi’s magisterial life of the Emperor Charles V. The objective itself is not at fault, for Charles is a fascinating

figure, and the materials for psychological interpretation are at hand. But de Ferdinandy’s procedure is impressionistic rather than methodical and aims at description, not analysis. In the end we find that we have learned little. Charles’ personality is allowed to emerge bit by bit from a portrayal of his family, his experiences, and the social and political setting of his reign. De Ferdinandy treats in detail Charles’ relations with the members of his family, especially his mother Juana and his son, the future Philip II. There is also full consideration of his ties to his ancestors, of the Burgundian, Spanish, and Austrian elements in his character, and of his commitment to the vain mirage of the “imperial idea.” At some points Charles appears as “the great Utopian on the imperial throne,” at others as Don Quixote or Machiavelli—the last medieval knight or the man of the Renaissance. But though de Ferdinandy’s vividly written pages show an occasional flash of insight, his biography adds little to what we have long known about the monarch who came closer than any other ruler in modern times to restoring in his person the idea and institution of the medieval emperor.