false 174710 1 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, Cortes, 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. Another popular misconception--that the Conquistadors worked alone--is shattered by the revelation that vast numbers of black and native allies joined them in a conflict that pitted native Americans against each other. This and other factors, not the supposed superiority of the Spaniards, made conquests possible. 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. 168768 28 10 2004 Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest total:19|5:6|4:4|3:7|2:2|1:0| 19 71 30 5 5 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 10 15:06:28 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 18 11:24:03 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon May 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 28 06:29:35 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 12:46:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 15:27:18 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 20:19:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Sun Jan 11 12:43:23 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 11 12:45:02 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Jan 14 17:00:18 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 17:05:20 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Oct 27 23:09:48 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 23:09:17 -0700 2009 Thu Nov 05 20:20:41 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Sep 17 10:32:43 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 10:32:43 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Sep 14 19:49:07 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 19:49:07 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Sep 01 22:02:32 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 22:02:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Aug 27 10:47:04 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 10:47:04 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jul 24 08:00:02 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 08:00:02 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jul 23 20:31:33 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 15:05:31 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon May 25 23:38:50 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 23:38:50 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Apr 22 18:51:43 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 18:51:43 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 06 19:58:16 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 06 19:58:16 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Dec 27 15:59:13 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 15:59:13 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Mon Dec 01 12:22:43 -0800 2008 Fri Sep 19 07:13:44 -0700 2008 Mon Dec 01 12:22:43 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Tue May 13 16:33:18 -0700 2008 Tue May 13 16:33:18 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sat Mar 22 14:14:10 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 22 14:14:10 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Fri Feb 29 09:28:31 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 29 09:28:41 -0800 2008