Average customer rating:
- Informative and thought-provoking
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Captives and Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in the Southwest Borderlands
James F. Brooks
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0807853828
Release Date: 2001-12-04 |
Book Description
This sweeping, richly evocative study examines the origins and legacies of a flourishing captive exchange economy within and among native American and Euramerican communities throughout the Southwest Borderlands from the Spanish colonial era to the end of the nineteenth century.
Indigenous and colonial traditions of capture, servitude, and kinship met and meshed in the borderlands, forming a "slave system" in which victims symbolized social wealth, performed services for their masters, and produced material goods under the threat of violence. Slave and livestock raiding and trading among Apaches, Comanches, Kiowas, Navajos, Utes, and Spaniards provided labor resources, redistributed wealth, and fostered kin connections that integrated disparate and antagonistic groups even as these practices renewed cycles of violence and warfare.
Always attentive to the corrosive effects of the "slave trade" on Indian and colonial societies, the book also explores slavery's centrality in intercultural trade, alliances, and "communities of interest" among groups often antagonistic to Spanish, Mexican, and American modernizing strategies. The extension of the moral and military campaigns of the American Civil War to the Southwest in a regional "war against slavery" brought differing forms of social stability but cost local communities much of their economic vitality and cultural flexibility.
Customer Reviews:
Informative and thought-provoking.......2003-06-24
It would be foolish to give a book that won three prestigious professional awards (the Bancroft, Turner, and Parkman prizes) all in one year anything less than five stars, but the stars I have given this book can only hint at its remarkable contents. Captives and Cousins is based on prodigious research in original sources, and the research is wedded to a compelling and innovative analysis.
Brooks is not the first historian to show that the practice of taking captives and subjecting them to involuntary servitude was widespread in the American Southwest, but I don't think that anyone else has demonstrated so convincingly how deep and wide the cycle of capture and slavery was. Virtually all of the peoples who lived in and around New Mexico in the three centuries following the Spanish entrada (Native Americans and Europeans alike) took captives and engaged to one degree or another in the slave trade. Indians preyed on Spanish and Mexicans, and on themselves, and the Spanish and Mexicans returned the favor. To a degree, even Americans played a role in the trade after they became the controlling force in the region. They offered rewards for the return of captives and thus provided incentives for further captures. Brooks shows that the system of capture and slavery contributed in significant ways to the political, economic, and cultural development of the Southwest, providing a ready source of labor (and wives), knitting disparate peoples into webs of kinship (some biological, some adoptive, some deriving from Catholic godparenthood), helping to equalize wealth, and provoking endless cycles of revenge and retaliation. The system (a kind of "war of all against all") had its own logic, though the logic was crude and in many respects cruel.
Brooks does not saddle Europeans with all of the blame for the system. He makes it clear that capture and enslavement were practiced before the Spanish first arrived in the Southwest. But they participated in it and added refinements derived from their own Iberian traditions. In one sense, the book helps to challenge the myth of Indians as indigenous peoples "operating within subsistence-and-exchange economies that produced little intergroup conflict." Conflict there was, and in spades.
Brooks is an academic, and the book is addressed primarily to his fellow academics. General readers will find the text too dense for easy reading. I found some parts of the book slow going, but I persisted and, in the end, was glad I did. Captives and Cousins not only informed me; it made me think.
Customer Reviews:
The Spanish heritage of the Southwest........2003-12-29
This is the second Marrin book I have read. This author does a good job summarizing the important aspects of this history. Along the way, he brings some interesting stories into the overall historical summation. I like his writing style as it can be understood by a teenager or an adult. The overall message in this book was how the Southwest was first lost by the Spaniards, then the Mexicans, and won by the United States. The Southwest is defined as Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and California.
As mentioned, Marrin always brings interesting stories into his narration. You find out the origin of Texas, how Ps and Qs became a phrase, Taylor's reaction to a self important Lietenant, and others. These stories liven up the historical summation. They are a joy to read.
This is a good read for both teenagers and adults. Although the history is not covered in depth, it gives the reader a base from where to go.
Book Description
A masterly portrait of contemporary Spain—fully revised, expanded, and updated
Modern-day Spain is a country changing at bewildering speed. In less than half a century, a predominantly rural society has been transformed into a mainly urban one. A dictatorship has become a democracy. A once-repressed society is being spoken of as a future “Sweden of the Mediterranean.” John HooperÂ's outstanding portrayal of the new Spanish society explores the causes behind these changes, from crime to education, gambling to changing sexual mores. This new, up-to-date edition is the essential guide to understanding twenty-first-century Spain: a land of paradox, progress, and social change.
Customer Reviews:
This is THE book to understand Spain.......2007-04-08
The first form of this book was simply called "The Spaniards" and was published in 1986. A completely revised version came out in 1995 with the title changed to "The New Spaniards." This second (2006) edition is significantly different that the first new and completely revised edition. This must sound convoluted, but the evolution of this book reflects the incredible changes that have taken place in Spain since the death of Dictator Franco in 1975. Indeed, some have argued that no other country has changed as much or as rapidly as Spain during the past 30 years.
British journalist John Hooper is intimately familiar with Spain. The well-researched, well-written book is as fine a survey of Spanish history, life, culture and attitudes as you are likely to find. His treatment is impartial and fair, though his love and respect for Spain cannot be obscured. It is everything you wanted to know and probably much you did not want to know. By that I mean that the strength of the book is also its weakness for some people. Though I am somewhat familiar with Spain, I learned a great deal and was fascinated with the breath, depth and accuracy of information Hooper provides. I also found myself slugging it out though seemingly endless statistics, economic studies and obscure names acronyms and personalities. Despite that, Hooper strikes a fine balance between academic excellence and readability. Even though you may be overwhelmed by more information than you can absorb, Hooper usually keeps your interest and gets the main point across.
If you are planning a vacation in Spain "The New Spaniards" may be more information than you care to know. Even a causal tourist, though, can benefit greatly from this book by intentionally focusing on what is interesting and relevant and not carrying the self-imposed burden of trying to remember or understand every detail. Of particular value is Hooper's firm grasp of the different peoples, languages and regions of Spain. If you are going to Spain as an exchange student or otherwise planning to spend an extended period of time in Spain, this is the place to begin your education.
A fine overview of Spanish culture .......2007-01-04
Having made our reservations to travel to Spain, my wife and I set out to do some background study. Of several currently popular sources, I found "The New Spaniards" to be the most helpful overview of both history and of culture. Many Americans are generally familiar with the outlines of Spain's glorious past. We were seeking to know more of its present, beginning with the Franco era and including snapshots of its current culture. This book is well-suited to those of us who are interested in Spain's regions and the region-Madrid(national) tensions, the role of the press and modern social science poll results. These latter statistics are conversationally presented and by no means overwhelm the reader: rather, they give good understanding and form the basis for conversations with Spanish friends one might make along the way.
Comprehensive, well written by an author who knows Spain, though a little dated.......2006-08-21
Hooper writes well and knowledgeably, bringing the reader up through the Spain of the early 90s in a wide ranging and thorough examination of this fascinating country and society. His in-depth study of Espana stops about 1993; one would hope for an updated version for the intervening thirteen years.
A great disertation..........2005-04-13
It makes sense now. Spain's rapid transformation from diplomatically isolated, economically stagnant backwater of Europe into a modern model european society is broken down and explained in an interesting fashion and with much attention to detail and statistics here by Hooper. Unputdownable.
Scholarly and interesting.......2002-08-30
This must be a definitive review of Spanish society and culture in the last half century, and while it's certainly fascinating reading, it is oversaturated. It can be a bit difficult to get through learning EVERYTHING about Spain if you are a newcomer to the topic. The section on the press becomes passionately detailed. Hooper seems to give the names, political bents and histories (behind the scenes and otherwise,) of every newspaper and magazine printed since 1936, as well as statistics about readership levels among various classes and regions over time which he compares to those of Britain and other European countries. Granted the information, with his analysis, does make for a very vivid portrait of the country, but you may feel a bit as though you're being hit on the head with a hammer when he starts doing the same thing in a chapter on television broadcasting. I simply couldn't keep track of the TV stations, and what they were up to, who was running them, how and why. Though I did get the point. Spanish love television, and they don't seem to have a problem with government control of the medium.
On the other hand the chapters on education, the arts, film, and the significantly independent regions of Spain, to wit, the Basque, the Catalan and the Galician regions, were much more breathable, and did fill in many gaps in my understanding,(though there were far too many personalities to keep track of, and all involved in very intricate negotiations,) as did earlier chapters about the general History of the country, and how the conflicts, between the various nations which came to form Spain, still exist today. In the minds of most Spaniards, the formation of Spain as a nation was never a forgone conclusion. And Hooper covers this national psychological fragmentation, and its present day outpourings and consequences, with startling detail.
Book Description
This book argues that the striking resemblances in Spanish and Puritan discourses of colonization as “exorcism” and as spiritual gardening point to a common Atlantic history. These resemblances suggest that we are better off if we simply consider the Puritan colonization of New England as a continuation of Iberian models rather than a radically different colonizing experience. The book demonstrates that a wider Pan-American perspective can upset the most cherished national narratives of the United States, for it maintains that the Puritan colonization of New England was as much a chivalric, crusading act of Reconquista (against the Devil) as was the Spanish conquest.
Book Description
Modern-day counterparts of the Spanish conquistadors and the early nineteenth-century settlers still cling to the image of El Dorado. The folklore of the land still exerts its magical pull. The pickup truck has replaced the horse and mule, but treasure seekers still travel with little more than their dreams and hopes. They can be found even now in the mountains and the valleys of the American Southwest, still searching for the elusive riches they believe await them.
Customer Reviews:
A standard reference.......2003-09-14
This book is a must for the bookshelves of treasure hunters and armchair dreamers. The history of lost gold and hidden treasures in the American Southwest is summarized here as well as it can be.
Book Description
During Louisiana’s Spanish colonial period, economic, political, and military conditions combined with local cultural and legal traditions to favor the growth and development of a substantial group of free blacks. In Bounded Lives, Bounded Places, Kimberly S. Hanger explores the origin of antebellum New Orleans’ large, influential, and propertied free blackâor libreâpopulation, one that was unique in the South. Hanger examines the issues libres confronted as they individually and collectively contested their ambiguous status in a complexly stratified society.
Drawing on rare archives in Louisiana and Spain, Hanger reconstructs the world of late-eighteenth-century New Orleans from the perspective of its free black residents, and documents the common experiences and enterprises that helped solidify libres’ sense of group identity. Over the course of three and a half decades of Spanish rule, free people of African descent in New Orleans made their greatest advances in terms of legal rights and privileges, demographic expansion, vocational responsibilities, and social standing. Although not all blacks in Spanish New Orleans yearned for expanded opportunity, Hanger shows that those who did were more likely to succeed under Spain’s dominion than under the governance of France, Great Britain, or the United States.
The advent of U.S. rule brought restrictions to both manumission and free black activities in New Orleans. Nonetheless, the colonial libre population became the foundation for the city’s prosperous and much acclaimed Creoles of Color during the antebellum era.
Customer Reviews:
Not a slave, yet not quite free!.......2005-12-20
The study of Louisiana history has often been regarded by some as a parallel to a famous Cajun dish - Gumbo. Gumbo is a massive mixture of many seemingly unrelated ingredients and spices that are thrown together in one pot. Once cooked, this Louisiana dish simply cannot be beat. This parallel to Louisiana history is especially true when one examines the libre (free black) population in and around New Orleans from 1769 to 1803.
To understand the libre plight, one must consider the efforts of the French, Spanish, and United States established governments in Louisiana in the 18th and early 19th centuries and the roles each played in the lives of the libres. In her book "Bounded Lives, Bounded Places," Kimberly Hangar asserts that although these libres were considered free, they often found themselves contained within the confines of the fixed caste systems of the French and Spanish.
During the Spanish era (1763-1800), the number of free blacks in New Orleans increased, and with this increase a group identity developed as libres began to push against the confines of the caste system. This identity was based upon "phenotype (mixed race), occupation, family networks, military service, religious and leisure activities, and political expression." And, it was an identity which left them in between two extremes; not a slave, yet not quite free.
USELESS.......2005-01-27
This book wil make you snore. unless you need the statistic of free blacks, and black slaves being freed in New Orleans during Spanish rule, this book is little more than a complete waste of you time.
Louisiana Historians Should Read This Book.......2004-10-26
The central theme of Bounded Lives, Bounded Places is the genesis and rise of the free people of color (i.e. non-slaves, or libres), their place in the society of colonial New Orleans in the mid to late 18th century and the manner in which they bettered themselves and their lot. Throughout Kim Hanger's work, the lives, struggles and aspirations of these unique gens de couleur libres (free people of color) are explored, as well as the institutions that played a role in their ascension to an unparalleled class stratum that was truly unique for its time.
The organization of the book is methodical, concise and logically ordered. Following the introduction, chapter one discusses how libres understood freedom, what it meant for them and their kin, and the methods by which they could obtain it. In chapter two, Hanger demonstrates how, through work and property accumulation, libres negotiated themselves into secure positions in various areas of the social hierarchy. The concept of family values and how kinship helped or hindered libres' chances of success are explored in chapter three. In chapter four, the reader learns how military service propelled libres to achieve and enhance their status as a powerful group. Chapter five examines ways in which libres interacted with whites and slaves and how those relationships reinforced libre identity.
The author's tome provides specific and detailed information about a topic that seems to have been largely neglected. In no small measure, Hanger reinforces her assertions with ample statistics and analysis, making her book a laborious read at times. It will be readily apparent to the layman reader that her target audience for the book is the researcher and historian. Nonetheless, there is a need for such works that serve the interests of academics, and the keen reader and amateur historian can still garner a plethora of information on the subject.
The contemporary reader may find it difficult to comprehend colonial era notions of slavery, manumission, self-manumission and the owning of slaves by former slaves. Despite of the sensitivity of the material, the author does not deviate from the core mission of the book: documenting and supporting her research with examples (as any credible historian should), while resisting the modern day urge to opine on the ethics of slavery, or parrot politically correct judgments and sound bites. Instead, Hanger manages to bring back to life a number of principal individuals, like the pardo libre (free brown-skinned) Pedro Bailey whose outspoken manner on the issue of libre equality (or the lack thereof) caused him a great deal of trouble with the Spanish government.
The concept of the libre merits additional analysis. Although they were not necessarily on equal footing with whites, libres were nonetheless liberated. That freedom caused them to unify into a single group within a three-tiered social order, with white Europeans above and slaves below. Consequently, colonial New Orleans's free black population found themselves in an untenable position: attempting to assert their status as free people to the dominant white bourgeoisie while simultaneously maintaining a necessary and distinctive delineation from the slave class. These pressures came together from opposite ends, invariably creating tight internal cohesions that reinforced the unique libre identity. A notable example of this was the libre militia. More than just a military institution whose mission was to protect the Spanish crown's interests, it also served as an extensive and exclusive social web wherein officers would inter-marry into families of colleagues, stand in as godparents for children of other officers, and even assist their brothers in arms with loans and financial guarantees.
Hanger contends that the notion of a person's race could be malleable depending upon the situation. The problematic issue of conjugal relationships between white Europeans and libres illustrates a prime case of such racial adaptability. While religious and societal leaders discouraged such mixed unions, a libre woman might secure the sacrament of holy matrimony to a wealthy white European if she herself was sufficiently white. It is apparent through such exceptions that in colonial Louisiana, one's racial identity could alter, depending on circumstances. This racial "hedging" offered some libres a powerful card in the racial deck: if your pigmentation was light enough, you could ascend higher into the social stratum and distance yourself even further from darker skinned libres. Such thinking obviously transformed the concept of race into a chameleon-like quality that could be used by certain libres to enhance their status and insure prosperity for themselves and their progeny.
Overall, Hanger's work provides a solid study of the life of libres under Spain's colonial Louisiana. Diligent students of Louisiana's rich history will find that it gives a unique and objective examination of a fascinating group of people whose existence was a juxtapositional collage of bondage and freedom, despair and hope, failure and ambition, and probably most significant of all, irony.
Book Description
With the conquest of New Mexico in 1598, Spanish governors, soldiers, and missionaries began their brutal subjugation of the Pueblo Indians in what is today the Southwestern United States. This oppression continued for decades, until, in the summer of 1680, led by a visionary shaman named Popé, the Puebloans revolted. Before then the many different Pueblo villages had never acted in concert (and never would again). Now, in total secrecy they coordinated an attack, killing 401 settlers and soldiers and routing the rulers in Santa Fe. Every Spaniard was driven from the Pueblo homeland, the only time in North American history that conquering Europeans were thoroughly expelled from Indian territory.
Yet today, more than three centuries later, crucial questions about the Pueblo Revolt remain unanswered. How did Popé succeed in his brilliant plot? And what happened in the Pueblo world between 1680 and 1692, when a new Spanish force reconquered the Pueblo peoples with relative ease?
David Roberts set out to try to answer these questions and to bring this remarkable historical episode to life. He visited Pueblo villages, talked with Native American and Anglo historians, combed through archives, discovered abandoned backcountry ruins, sought out the vivid rock art panels carved and painted by Puebloans contemporary with the events, and pondered the existence of centuries-old Spanish documents never seen by Anglos.
As he explores the mystery of how the fiercely independent Pueblo villages brilliantly coordinated their effective attack -- and how the Spanish successfully exploited Indian disunity to return to power -- Roberts blends research and storytelling in an enlightening and spellbinding narrative.
Customer Reviews:
The lesson of NM history.......2006-10-31
Excellent history. I recommend this book to anyone interested in an accurate history of Northern New Mexico. It is refreshing to read an author who states his bias upfront instead of cloaking it in academic pretentions of "fair and balanced." in "The Pueblo Revolt" Roberts dispels the fantasy of the "bloodless reconquest" of New Mexico.
The Pueblo Revolt was envisioned by the medicineman Pope after he was tortured by the then Govenor of New Mexico. Pope, who was unknown to the Spanish, went to the Taos Pueblo and organized the revolt which resulted in expelling the Spanish from the Pueblos. The Neo-Cons should read this history and learn the true consequences of torturing enemies.
Good with Spanish documents, but otherwise disappointing.......2006-02-19
This is an interesting read and Roberts does a good job with presenting the myriad and complex Spanish documents on the topic. Sadly, he's limited by his lack of knowledge of the native cultures of the southwest. There are some hilarious passages where he's bemoaning the fact that modern-day Puebloans won't talk to him...yet his relationship with these people seems to consist entirely of his showing up and asking pointed questions. He also makes some glaring errors, as in his reference to Peyote "mushrooms" and his suggestions about the kiva at Abó.
Politically Correct for the 21st Century, not the 17th.......2005-11-23
Roberts provides some excellent insights and thought provoking discussion on the history of the Pueblos and the great Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
But this discourse is distracting in its imbalance and agenda. Roberts admits up front that this is a biased history... in that the Indians could do no wrong and the settlers and Christian padres could do no right. But he goes further than that as he consistently mocks the Christians and belittles their often sincere, though humanly imperfect, attempts to "civilize" the Indians and demonstrates that he is in the forefront of 21st Century political correctness and victimization apology, bordering on romanticizing the 17th Century Pueblo people. That is distracting given the setting of the 17th Century in New Mexico, a frontier for the Spanish and home for the Indians, a home that had been conquered and contested among other migrating, opportunistic peoples for generations prior to the arrival of the new opportunists, the Spanish. Instead, this would have been a better history had Roberts shown that both Indians and settlers were in step with their times and no side had a monopoly on either virtue or hard heartedness. Survival in that era was often a testament of cruel excesses on both sides, whether it is settler against Indian, Indian against settler, Indian against Indian or settler against settler. Also it was an era where the more exemplary human qualities of courage, resourcefulness, determination and compassion existed and worked on both sides attempting to thwart those brutal excesses. With historical balance, this might then have resulted in a more insightful work on this tragic and inevitable event in Southwest history. This is an event that cries for objective analysis because of its important ramifications for both cultures today.
not so much a history as an excellent guide.......2005-03-27
Another great book by Roberts... It's not just a history of the Pueblo Revolt but also a guide to the people who are affected by it today. Roberts does a graet job of not only giving a brief history but of getting a "feel" for the current scholorship of his subjects. I was especially impressed with the way this book handled, or attempted to handle, the pueblo side of the history of the Pueblo Revolt. It is still a story that has yet to be told , and one that the Pueblo are telling in thier own way, Roberts allows people to speak for themselves whether it is Pueblo leaders or the archeologists and anthropologists working on the ground. I really recomend this to anyone who is not familiar with the Pueblo Revolt as a first look at the subject.
As usual Roberts annotated biblography is probably worth the price of the book in itself
A History Hidden on Mesas and in Canyons.......2005-03-15
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 is one of those hazy historical events of which many are aware, but about which few really know much. As with his "In Search of the Old Ones", David Roberts has taken on another topic that combines a fascinating history with the outdoor experience of the southwest. David Roberts does this better than anyone else except, perhaps, Craig Childs. But while Craig Childs writes marvelously of his outdoor experiences in the canyons of the southwest, Roberts weaves in important historical topics that reveal the American southwest as more than just a backcountry experience, but an experience of the human species.
The Pueblo Revolt is an important event, not only to American history, but to human history as well: the Puebloans did indeed drive the Spanish out of the southwest for a time, an event that was never repeated by any other North American native people. Roberts' narrative is engaging and personal: he discovers that, three centuries later, hard feelings still exist between natives and hispanics, yet he is sensitive to all sides and tells the story without bias. He protects Native place names out of respect for native wishes, and he struggles to get modern Puebloans to drop their veil of secrecy to reveal the history that they have kept hidden from the rest of the world. He is not entirely successful in this regard, and must rely upon (as previous historians have also) Spanish documents for his primary sources. Many (not all) of the Puebloan peoples will not share the oral histories that have been passed down to them, as if they are not, themselves, Homo sapiens and a part of the human history of the planet. This is a real shame since their self-imposed apartheid could ultimately doom their rich cultures (and some languages as well) to nothing more than enigmatic footnotes in human history.
Nevertheless, Roberts has navigated through these challenges to write a comprehensive, on-the-ground history of the Pueblo Revolt that will entertain as well as inform.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Manuscript.......2007-05-15
The Origins of New Mexico Families is a must have source book for anyone conducting genealogy research that includes New Mexico. A Must Have Book!
Origins of New Mexico Families.......2006-08-24
Very interesting, felt there could have been more added but was happy to have as a resource and history reference.
Excellent Resource for New Mexican Genealogy.......2006-07-08
This is an excellent resource for New Mexican genealogy research. The information is documented, the layout is clear, and the book is easy to use. I have consistently returned to this book while researching for my clients' family history and for mine as well. There are some errors, so don't use this book as the sole source of your work.
The only problem I see with this book is that sometime people become TOO eager to make their known lines stretch out to "fit" the work in here. But most researchers, professional and ameteur, aren't like that.
Purchase this book before it goes out of print, just like the previous reviewer urges. You'll use it for decades.
Salena Ashton
Must have if You have Family in It........2005-08-20
If you have ancestors listed in this book, you must have it. Just to see them listed in it makes you feel soo proud and you have it to show others in case they think you are full of crap.
THE book for New Mexico family and regional history........2004-06-16
I was priviliged to make the aquaintance of the author a few years prior to his passing in Santa Fe NM. He was a true Renaissance Man - a painter, a poet, an historian, an author, etc. in addition to his lifetime of service in the Franciscan order. His prose and poetry have won literary prizes in the U.S. and Europe.
This book is THE starting place for anyone having family history ties to New Mexico, and a must-read for those interested in the history of New Mexico. Well before Jamestown and the Pilgrims, New Mexico was settled continuously beginning in 1598 by Spaniards whose descendents today still make up a major portion of the population of New Mexico.
This book has been reprinted numerous times and sells out every time. I recommend you get it now before it goes out of print and distribution again. This newer edition reprint was launched by the nephew (Dr. Thomas Chávez)of the author and the edition includes important new material.
I recognize some the other reviewers above, who are experienced genealogists specializing in New Mexico. We all agree - this book is essential for every New Mexico genealogist and historian.
John E. Chavez (aka: El Profe Loco)
Book Description
Romans in a New World shows how the ancient Romans haunted the Spanish conquest of the New World, more often than not as passionately rejected models. While the conquistadors themselves and their publicists challenged the reputations of the Romans for incomparable military genius and daring, Spanish critics of the conquest launched a concerted assault upon two other prominent uses of ancient Rome as a model: as an exemplar of imperialistic motives and behavior fit for Christians to follow, and as a yardstick against which to measure the cultural level of the natives of the New World.
In the course of this debate, many Spaniards were inspired to think more deeply on their own ethnic ancestry and identity, as Spanish treatment of the New World natives awakened the slumbering memory of Roman treatment of the Iberian tribes whom modern Spaniards were now embracing as their truest ancestors. At the same time, growing awareness of the cultural practices--especially the religious rituals--of the American natives framed a new perspective on both the pre-Christian ancestors of modern Europeans and even on the survival of "pagan" customs among modern Europeans themselves. In this incisive study, David A. Lupher addresses the increasingly debated question of the impact the discovery of the New World had upon Europeans' perceptions of their identity and place in history.
Romans in a New World holds much to interest both classicists and students of the history and culture of early modern Europe--especially, though not exclusively, historians of Spain. David A. Lupher's concern with the ideology of imperialism and colonization and with cross-cultural negotiations will be useful to students of cultural studies, as well.
David A. Lupher is Professor of Classics, University of Puget Sound.
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