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1. Of what genre is this book? How does it compare with others in the same genre that you've read?

This book is a historical novel, but a special kind of historical novel, as there are very few invented characters (perhaps La Rubia, one of the servants in the castle in Villagarcía). Most of the tale is based in actual history and historical characters.

I have read many historical novels, but one of them is specially apt to be compared with this book: "Jeromín" by Father Luis Coloma, published in 1902, as it deals exactly with the same subject: the life of Don Juan de Austria.

"Jeromín" is a more complete book, as it considers don Juan's whole life, and ends with his death, while De Wohl's book ends with Lepanto. It is also a more historical book, in the sense that it invents almost nothing, and makes reference to a greater number of historical documents. The style is also more similar to a biography, while this book we are reading is more similar to a novel. This can be seen in the fact that De Wohl tells us what the characters are thinking (as for instance, when the Emperor, Charles V, meets his son Jeromín in Yuste), something that a historian or a biographer would never dare do.

I totally agree with the Professor Alfonseca that This novel is an historical Fiction, however Louis de Wohl created an especial genre. Louis Whol created ir developed for the advice of Pious XII a genre the novels of Saints. He is a man Who tries to write an historical Fiction of the Catholic Church, before Louis de Wohl wrote novel of aventures. He was compared with Joseph Contad and the cezch writer Franz Werfel, when he knew that Werfel had written the Song of Bernadette he said that he would not be The writer of One Catholic Life and he dedicated his Life to recreate the history of the Saints of Catholic Church. When the people asked to Louis de Wohl he said that he was a german man son of a hungarian Father and Austrian's mother. He knew the horror the nazism and for striking This antichristian ideology he wrote their novels. He joined to the Resistance and he colaborated with the English to defeat the nazism. He was useful in astrologist questions on which Hitler as Wallenstein was obssessed. Although This One of my favorite novels of Louis de Wohl. I think that Louis de Wohl must not be rated by This novel or One novel we must rate him for all his novels that they are a living organism as the Human Comedy by Balzac. Although i can not vote for him i am very Happy that his book was chosen because my friend Alfonseca would have to Read It. This book changed my mind and my Focus as historian at This moment i was more interested in the history of 17th century especially of the War of 30 years trying to understand why the catholicism was defeated and we could not beat the protestantism and Why the Unity of the christianity was Split or divides that in analyze the golden age of my country
and the role of Spain to spread the Catholic religion arround the world. This is the novel of De Wohl dedicated to Spain. And the only not dedicated a Saint although in This novel appeared Saint Therese of Jesús, Saint Peter Alcántara and other Saints. The portrait of Philip II is Closer to the reality and the infant Don Charles very different of the black Legend. One thing that Alfonseca did not like of the science Fiction Berserk by Fred Saberhagen is the Dark profile that Saberhagen offered of Philip II with his fictional character Philip Novara inspired in the Black Legend Johan Carlsen is Closer to the reality. One default of De Wohl is he did not touch the protestantism, perhaps for being german and for having protestant Friends only in his novel dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier appeared the protestantism. I agree with Alfonseca that Coloma is more complete and This novel must be completed with the historical novel The Natural Lord by Laszlo Passuth. De Wohl is the Catholic style of the finnish writer Mika Waltari.