Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. Matthew Restall

Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest



Download Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest



Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest Matthew Restall ebook pdf
Publisher:
Language: English
Page: 240
ISBN: 0195160770, 9780195184624

From Publishers Weekly

According to historical consensus, the Spanish conquest of the New World was a cataclysm in which superior European technology and organization overwhelmed Native American civilizations. In this daring revisionist critique, Penn State historian Restall describes a far more complex process in which Indians were central participants on both sides of the struggle. Far from regarding the Spaniards as gods, Restall argues, Indians offered a variety of shrewd, pragmatic responses to the invaders while advancing their own political agendas. Indeed, given that the conquistadors were vastly outnumbered by their Indian allies, the Conquest was in many respects a civil war between natives. Nor did Indian societies fall apart at one blow: independent Mayan polities, for example, persisted into the 19th century. Even under Spanish rule, Indians continued to live in self-governing communities, where they maintained their own languages, cultures and leaders who had considerable clout with the colonial administration. Drawing on Spanish, Native American and West African accounts of the Conquest, academic studies and even Hollywood movies, Restall examines the paradigm of European triumph and Indian "desolation" as it evolved from the conquistador's self-serving narratives to contemporary interpretations by such writers as Jared Diamond and Kirkpatrick Sale. Rejecting the implicit juxtaposition of "subhuman" Indians with "superhuman" Europeans, Restall asserts instead that, through war and epidemic, native societies retained much of their autonomy and cohesion, and "turned calamity into opportunity." Restall's provocative analysis, wide-ranging scholarship and lucid prose make this a stimulating contribution to the debate on one of history's great watersheds. Photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review


"A work of this kind brings good scholarship together with the arguments and contributions of the author and puts it between two covers, where we can have our whole feast on Conquest history. Well conceived, researched, and written, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest is a valuable synthesis of this important event in human history and a good candidate for the colonial Latin American history and historiography classroom."--Patricia Lopes Don, San Jose State University


"A daring revisionist critique.... Restall's provocative analysis, wide-ranging scholarship and lucid prose make this a stimulating contribution to the debate on one of history's great watersheds."--Publishers Weekly


"Compelling and revisionist.... Demonstrates that from the beginning of the Spanish Conquest, the way of life that has evolved in the Americas was shaped in concert by diverse peoples of European, Native American, and African descent."--Library Journal


"Matthew Restall is one of the leading pioneers of a new approach to the history of European colonization in the Americas, re-integrating indigenous perspectives and exploiting indigenous sources. The conquest of Mexico puzzled even participants in it and generated legends which have continued to hold historians spellbound: Restall subjects them to re-examination with a ferociously critical intellect, a historically disciplined imagination, and exceptional command of the sources. By unpicking the myths, Restall makes possible, for the first time, a believable reconstruction of what really happened."--Felipe Fern�ndez-Armesto


"Restall's simple prose is deceptive because he confronts and overturns hoary myths of some of the most controversial and complex aspects of the conquest of Spanish America. Based on a deep knowledge of the Spanish and indigenous sources, he clearly shows how the myths of Spanish prowess and Indian inabilities were created, and why and how they have been perpetuated. This is revisionism at its best." --Stuart B. Schwartz, Yale University


"This is a work of clear significance for the understanding not just of the Conquest itself, but also the means by which we have mythologized it. Restall displays both wit and erudition as he reveals the invention and persistence of some key images of the conquistadores. Seven Myths is a scholarly yet accessible text that should be required reading for any course that touches upon colonial conquests and the culture of the Americas."--Neil L. Whitehead, University of Wisconsin-Madison




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