- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA; New Ed edition (14 Oct 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195176111
- ISBN-13: 978-0195176117
- Product Dimensions: 24.6 x 16.3 x 2 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 739,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest
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Written in an accessible style, the book targets the well-educated general reader. Chosen Best Book of the Year by the Economist in 2005... (Hispanic American Historical Review )
Product Description
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, Cortés, 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 the conquistadors for gods and that small numbers of vastly outnumbered Spaniards did not bring down great empires with stunning rapidity. We discover that Columbus was correctly seen in his lifetime--and for decades after--as a briefly fortunate but unexceptional participant in efforts involving many southern Europeans. It was only much later that Columbus was portrayed as a great man who fought against the ignorance of his age to discover the new world. Restall also shows that the Spanish Conquest relied heavily on black and native allies, who provided many thousands of fighters, vastly outnumbering the conquistadors. In fact, the native perception of the Conquest differed sharply from the Spanish version--they saw it as a native civil war in which the Spaniards played an important but secondary role. The Conquest, Restall shows, was more complex--and more fascinating--than conventional histories have portrayed it. Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest offers a richer and more nuanced account of a key event in the history of the Americas.
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14 reviews
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Interesting points
3 Jan 2007
Format:Paperback
Interesting book with seven excellent points of the Spanish Conquest. For those who have done any kind of research into this period of history, would for the most part, agree to Mr. Restall's points. I was curious to see his explanations to the myths and his justifications. I found it enjoyable reading as a whole and agreed to most of his myths. This book would be more meaningful and insightful to a reader who has done some previous reading in this area.
12 of 16 people found the following review helpful
A good revisionist book
26 Sep 2007
Format:Paperback
Though I had to read this for a college course, I still found this book fascinating. I really thought that Restall's arguements were sound and his conclusions were perfect. I especially found it intersting that he talks about black conquistadors. That is something that is not discussed in history books. The myth of just the white conquistador has definitely been debunked. He does a superb job with this book by using the conquistadors own words. I definitely recommend it.
20 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Restall debunks historical myths.
22 Sep 2003
Format:Hardcover
This book is brilliant.
I attended a seminar where we were lucky enough to read Restall's book before it was published. Our mission was to try and debunk at least one of Restall's seven myths. Mission Failure! We found little success. His thesis is tight, his evidence is sound, and is book is great.
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