About this title: Here is an intriguing exploration of the ways in which the history of the Spanish Conquest has been misread and passed down to become popular knowledge of these events. The book offers a fresh account of the activities of the best-known conquistadors and explorers, including Columbus, Cortes, and Pizarro. Using a wide array of sources, historian Matthew Restall highlights seven key myths, uncovering the source of the inaccuracies and exploding the fallacies and misconceptions behind each myth. This vividly written and authoritative book shows, for instance, that native Americans did not take ...
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Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780195176117ISBN:0195176111
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. clean text, tight binding, minor shelf wear to cover/corners, slight stain along edge, sticker residue on back cover, nice reading copy, help support independent booksellers! Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 240 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. CHARITY SALE! Underlining approx. 15 pages. Otherwise great shape inside and out. 100% of the proceeds benefit the literacy efforts of Books for America. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780195176117ISBN:0195176111
Description: Paperback. Almost New. Almost new condition. SKU: 23870974 All orders shipped within 1 business day. 14 day money back guarantee ISBN: 9780195176117 Almost New. Almost new condition. SKU: 23870974 All orders shipped within 1 business day. 14 day money back guarantee. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780195176117ISBN:0195176111
Description: Good. --All NEW items are exactly as provided by the publisher. All USED items are in Good condition or better, and copies may contain store stickers, highlighting, etc from normal use by previous owner(s). One-time use supplements (e.g., access codes, tear-out flash cards, reference cards, etc) provided with new copies are NOT guaranteed. --Professional booksellers: inquiries always welcome. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780195176117ISBN:0195176111
Description: New. Here is an intriguing exploration of the ways in which the history of the Spanish Conquest has been misread and passed down to become popular knowledge of these events. The book offers a fresh account of the activities of the best-known conquistadors... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: 2003-07-24
ISBN-13:9780195160772ISBN:0195160770
Description: Good. Excellent customer service. May ship from alternate location depending on your zip code and availability. Satisfaction guaranteed! ! read more
"Above all, what one may profit from reading this book would have to be a clearer understanding of the surreptitiously and higgedly-piggedly way in which the conquest was achieved. The Monarchs of the new country called "Las Españas" were not bank rolling the efforts but granting individuals who headed, remarkably similar to corporations, groups of kinsman, bondsmen, and slaves into the newly discovered lands for profit. The Church was both an ally and a justification to spread their culture, by force if necessary, and acquire lands for Spain and the "saving of souls" languishing in ignorance and neglect. Sanctified conquest, "the truth" being administered by the entrepeneural spirit. Sound familiar?
Eye-opening were the freedmen, erstwhile slaves, who actively participated in the land-grab. Informing was the fact that the majority of "the conquest" was nothing other than an allied effort manned by warring tribes fighting to rid themselves of Empires like the "Aztec Mexica" and "The Inca" in order to become subjects of an empire that was, at least, farther away. Hundreds of thousands of natives allied themselves to hundreds of aliens from across the seas in epic battles that would grant their "freedom". To what extent they were proved right and/or wrong is also discussed in Restall's book--perhaps not enough, actually. Anyone wanting to understand the actual way the conquest was achieved ("conquest" becoming a misnomer as you read along) must consult Restall--give it a read, have at it!"
"the seven myths, a chapter on each: the myth of exceptional men, the myth of the kings army, the myth of the white conquistador, the myth of completion, the myth of (mis)communication, the myth of native desolation, the myth of superiority. certainly made me rethink some things, and detail like the demography of the conquistadors allows me to more vividly imagine such scenarios in their concreteness, but it remains to be determined if any of these more factual elements seriously disrupt my conception of the most crucial aspects of the conquest. Jis scholarship, according to some secondary literature, is apparently pretty sound--although much of what he "debunks", especially in the chapter on communication, are at odds with more spirited authors such as todorov and churchill. I could perhaps follow restall in critiquing todorov's valuation of writing, but i most definitely am opposed to the political motivation behind restall's need to say the conquest was definitively not genocide. an exceptionally weak moment that hinders greatly my willingness to trust the rest of his 'revisionism.'"
"Excellent. Every person with an interest in Latin American studies should read this. A fascinating revisionist work that wasts no time in hacking away at the historiography of the Spanish conquest of Latin America and raising uncomfortable questions (such as the role of blacks in the conquest or the subject of La Malinche). I had a little trouble with his writing style at first, but once past that I never looked back.... I just got it back from Kap after a year or so and look forward to rereading it."
"You know I had my theories all bunched up and carried on my shoulder like a heavy chip and for what? To have them tumble like snow flakes on hot asphalt. That's why we read and learn and and learn and read some more. It starts off fantastic, non-apolegetic and demistifying both sides of historical assumtions and a curriculum thats long overdue for an update. You know you have to appreciate Anthropology and relentless research. the author doesn't have conclusion to the defifinative colonisation of these conquerors. he summarises with a great example told by three points of view wich made the book well worth the read. It emcompasses the seven myhts."
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