Description
Book SynopsisVolume 1 in The Cambridge History of Latin America looks at the history of colonial Latin America.
Trade Review"Prospective readers who want a wide ranging collection of modern, high level essays on colonial Latin America will welcome this work warmly." - American Historical Review
"...the essential reference and review work in Latin American history." - American Historical Review
"The historical scholarship, judgement and writing displayed in these pages are of a superior kind and will ensure that the work stands supreme for many decades to come. The editor and his authors are to be applauded for producing a history which honours the profession, serves the subject and deserves a great number of readers. We are in the presence of a major historical enterprise" - Bulletin of Latin American Research
"… will inform and guide the study of colonial society for years to come." - Hispanic American Historical Review
"... [a] magisterial work ... the best in. Latin American scholarship on the colonial period ... a comprehensive history of Latin America that is most unlikely to be superseded ... a monumental work of learning." - British Book News
"... fresh outlook, painstaking scholarship, and fine writing style ... Superior and authoritative, this work will lead in the field ... for years to come." - Library Journal
"a major synthesis of current scholarship on colonial Latin America… the most detailed, comprehensive and authoritative work on the subject available." - Library Journal Best Reference Books of 1985
"a classic work for which generations will be grateful." - Financial Times
"Leslie Bethell has done a remarkable job ... nowhere else, will the reader find so comprehensive an account of nearly every aspect of the history of Central and South America from the remotest past to the eve of Independence, ... the most detailed, extensive and authoritative general account of Latin America to date." - Times Literary Supplement
"... impressed by the international nature of the research on the region, the range of the themes discussed, the sophistication. of the methods and interpretations developed ... the two volumes show the cosmopolitan nature of the methodological and theoretical influences on the colonial history of Latin America." - Times Higher Education Supplement
"It is remarkable how one individual ... is planner, coordinator and editor of the entire set ... Throughout his work we find the ultimate in scholarship, expressed simply, precisely and clearly. The editing as well as the physical presentation are first rate… the set promises to be a treasure trove." - Inter American Review of Bibliography
"An up-to-date synthesis of the best scholarship in the field." - Luso-Brazilian Review
"a truly impressive project ... Leslie Bethell is to be complemented on the overall high quality of the 34 contributions ... the organization and format of these volumes and the Herculean labor of general editorship." - Southeastem Latin Americanist
"a landmark event to be celebrated by all readers, interested in any aspect of the history, culture and society of Latin America ... the first time a single editor has been given responsibility for the planning, coordination and editing of an entire Cambridge History ... a massive undertaking ... some truly remarkable essays ... several of the chapters, in these two volumes may well stand for some time as classic essays on their topic. All the chapters exhibit a uniformly high level of both scholarship and clarity ... the two volumes now in, hand shew a remarkable consistency of editorial craftsmanship and cohesiveness, to say nothing of a very high level, of scholarly achievement ... marks a giant step forward ... a celebration of the maturation of the field and a stimulant to fresh discovery and thought." - Canadian Journal of History
Table of ContentsList of maps; Note on currency and measurement; Abbreviations; General preface; Preface to volumes 1 and 2; Part I. America on the Eve of the Conquest: 1. Mesoamerica before 1519 Miguel Leon-Portilla; 2. The Indians of the Caribbean and Circum-Caribbean at the end of the fifteenth century Mary W. Helms; 3. Andean societies before 1532 John Murra; 4. The Indians of southern South America in the middle of the sixteenth century Jorge Hildalgo; 5. The Indians of Brazil in 1500 John Hemming; A note on the native American population on the eve of the European invasions Leslie Bethell; Part II. Europe and America: 6. The Spanish Conquest and settlement of America J. H. Elliott; 7. The Indian and Spanish conquest Nathan Wachtel; 8. The Portuguese settlement of Brazil, 1500–1580 H. B. Johnson; 9. Spain and America in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries J. H. Elliott; 10. Spain and America: the Atlantic trade 1492–1720 Murdo J. MacLeod; 11. Bourbon Spain and its American empire D. A. Brading; 12. Portugal and Brazil: political and economic structures of empire, 1580–1750 Frédéric Mauro; 13. Portugal and Brazil: imperial re-organization, 1750–1808 Andree Mansuy-Diniz Silva; Part III. The Church in America: 14. The Catholic church in colonial Spanish America Josep M. Barnadas; 15. The Catholic church in colonial Brazil Eduardo Hoornaert; Bibliographical essays; Index.
