Are you serious? Read old history books, not the ones your school issued you...
My history books come from eBay and include Ridpath's histories from the turn of the century, among many others! (Although I enjoy Victor Davis Hansen as well!) Glad to hear that you are optimistic about the Spaniards. I am as well.
"If it is one kind of blindness to assume that man is made for war, it may be another kind to assume that he can remain indifferent to the drama of conflict" - Richard M Weaver