Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #398378 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Customer Reviews

A different look at history.
This is a great book, make no mistake. It is very easy to follow without dumbing down at all.

The book looks at the histories of five peoples of North and South America since Columbus landed in 1492: these are the Aztec, Inca, Maya, Iroquois and Cherokee. The book is divided into three parts, namely 'Invasion', 'Resistance' and 'Rebellion'. Each part is then divided into five chapters, each detailing the role of each indigenous nation in each aspect (Invasion etc).

Ronald wright has uncovered a variety of sources that are barely known, most probably because wherever possible he tried to cite native sources rather than European ones. His very valid point of view is that the people of European descent have been telling the stories for long enough and it's time the indigenous peoples should tell their own histories.

The books covers ground most people are familiar with in terms of the history of the Americas; the 'conquests' of Mexico and Peru by Cortez and Pizarro in particular: but we hear it from the side of the Aztecs and Incas wherever possible. The fall of Tenochtitlan is particularly moving in the same way that the resistance of Manco Inca is particularly rousing. Where the book detracts from most other histories is that it openly states that the 'conquests' were and still are ongoing to varying degrees - it didn't all end after a few battles.

The 'Resistance' part of the book is very interesting as it deals with the current day: how if Guatemala were truly democratic it would be a Mayan republic (no the Mayans didn't disappear); modern Peru is a shoddy European infrastructure built upon an abiding native base. The politics of contemporary USA and even more remarkably Canada leave a lot to be desired given the history of very recent rebellion (1990) of the Mohawk (part of the Iroquois Confederacy).

This book is a very good introduction to someone wanting an alternative and perhaps more honest version of the history of parts of the Western Hemisphere over the last 500-odd years.