Keen's Latin American Civilization, Volume 1

"This collection of documents provides an exciting mosaic of ideas and images from the Latin American colonial past. It provides readers the opportunity to look at the processes of conquest and colonization from a wide variety of vantage points. Primary sources cover socioeconomic and political aspects of pre-Columbian and colonial societies as well as religion, race relations, gender and sexuality, art, honor, and everyday life. Written documents are complemented with lively images and paintings. While the focus is on Mexico and the Andes, the peripheral areas of the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese domain of Brazil are also well represented. This thematic richness is matched by the multiplicity of voices. European conquerors and native peoples, intellectuals, government officials, travelers, scientists, and members of the Catholic Church, men and women, in sum, people from very different walks of life, are heard throughout these pages. The introductory pieces and headnotes are clear and precise. It is hard to think of a more comprehensive and sophisticated teaching tool for survey courses on colonial Lain America. --Sergio Serulnikov, Universidad de San Andres / CONICET