"Taylor has removed one of the serious obstacles to seeing sixteenth-century Mediterranean societies as they really were, rather than as social scientists have supposed."—Helen Nader, University of Arizona
~Helen Nader
“Refusing to accept the prevailing view of theatre as mirroring reality, Taylor heads for the archives. These tell a different story, showing early modern Spanish society and culture in a new and much more credible light.”—James S. Amelang, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid
~James S. Amelang
“Taylor not only corrects much that is wrong in Spanish historiography, he provides an illuminating example of how to read contemporary sources not as autonomous norms but as living rhetoric embedded in daily practice.”—Ruth MacKay, author of “Lazy Improvident People:” Myth and Reality in the Writing of Spanish History
~Ruth MacKay
“Farewell Spanish honor's famous iron code! Taylor proves how supple, pragmatic, and varied was honor's application by the commoners who invoked its prestigious strictures to navigate their daily lives.”—Thomas Cohen, author of Love and Death in Renaissance Italy
~Thomas Cohen
"Enormously valuable. . . . It is a thought-provoking reexamination of the stereotypical view of Spanish honor. . . . Taylor's adept study and interdisciplinary approach will be of interest to students of early modern Spanish and European history, literature, anthropology, gender, and society."—Jodi Campbell, Journal of World History
~Jodi Campbell, Journal of World History