Includes bibliographical references (pages 477-495) and index.

A birth without fanfare -- A childhood in the shadows -- Frightening years -- Isabella faces the future alone -- Marriage -- Ferdinand and his family -- The newlyweds -- The Borgia connection -- Preparing to rule -- Isabella takes the throne -- The tribe of Isabel -- The whole world trembled -- The queen's war -- Architects of the Inquisition -- Landing in paradise -- Borgia gives her the world -- Lands of vanity and illusion -- Faith and family -- Turks at the door -- Israel in exile -- Three daughters -- A church without a shepherd -- The death of Queen Isabella -- The world after Isabella.

Drawing on new scholarship, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Woman Behind the New Deal presents a biography of Isabella of Castile, the controversial Queen of Spain who sponsored Christopher Columbus' journey to the New World, established the Spanish Inquisition and became one of the most influential female rulers in history.