Stolen Continents: Five Hundred Years Of Conquest And Resistance In The Americas

by Ronald Wright

Powerful and passionate, Stolen Continents is a history of the Americas unlike any other. This incisive single-volume report tells the stories of the conquest and survival of five great American cultures ? Aztec, Maya, Inca, Cherokee, and Iroquois. Through their eloquent words, we relive their strange, tragic experiences ? including, in a new epilogue, incidents that bring us up to the twenty-first century.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Native American, Indigenous, Anthropology, Politics, The Americas

430 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Ronald Wright is a Canadian author who has written books of travel, history and fiction. His nonfiction includes the bestseller Stolen Continents, winner of the Gordon Montador Award and chosen as a book of the year by the Independent and the Sunday Times. His first novel, A Scientific Romance, won the 1997 David Higham Prize for Fiction and was chosen a book of the year by the Globe and Mail, the Sunday Times, and the New York Times.

Reviews

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most people wouldn't even want to read this book, which is even more saddening than the stories it tells. This should be a textbook in college American history courses, but that would never happen. I sought this book out after reading "A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies" by Las Casas, which is a first person account of what the Spanish explorers did in central and south America. I would recommend that anyone with even a hint of curiosity regarding Native Americans should read the Las Casas. Wright's book goes much more in depth by taking 5 major native cultures (the Iroquois, Incas, Mayas, Aztec and Cherokee) and telling us what they were like before, during and after the conquests. He even brings us into the 20th century and discusses the state of these tribes now (as of 1992 anyway, when the book was finished). If you like Zinn, then Ronald is "Wright" up your alley.

[Brian Griffith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing is so powerful, clear, and riveting. Wright exposes the prejudices involved in a way that just can't be forgotten.

[Mjaballah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only a couple of pages of this book were enough to bring me to the reality of the holocaust, the author's own word, that these "Indian" Americans have been going through since. Stones forced into eye sockets, infants kicked around as soccer balls, the soles of teen's feet shaved off, ...etc. These gruesome acts might seem safely secured in history by the centuries that now separate us from the time Columbus first landed on the Americas. However, these acts are only from the 20th century (covered near the end of the book). I think this is what distinguishes this work from other historical books, in that it delivers the whole image of struggle that these indigenous nations have gone through since 1492 to modern day resistance in 1992.

Five different empires are the subject of this examination: Aztecs, Mayas, Incas, Cherokees, and Iroquois. This is by no means an exclusive list, far from that, many more nations and tribes have had the Americas as their home. Estimates of the populations of these continents range from 70 million to over 120 million, a third of the world's populations then. Reduced to roughly 20 million after only 60 years.

Overall the book was clearly a result of some extensive and extra ordinary research, for example going into the Vatican Secret Archives for sources, and at times portraying contradicting narratives of the same encounter: see the bottom of page 22 for a really funny comparison between the Spanish and Aztec narrative. Although I am tempted to give it a five out five star ranking, I think some of chapters could have used better transitions and where hence hard and slow to digest.

I really recommend this book for anyone interested in linking colonization to today's surviving generations and to anyone who is travelling to the region. But one thing for sure is that you can kiss good bye the idea of Christopher Columbus's voyage as being the "discovery" of the "new world" and the "Indians" of America. Reflecting on Pocahontas after reading this, you begin to see how the conqueror not only eradicates the colonized, but also dictates the narrative.

[Rommel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart-wrenching. I am a descendant of the people whose struggles Ronald chronicles in this book. Reading this was for me an evisceration of my ignorance, an agony-inducing procedure in which a layer of the cancerous tumor of colonization has been removed from my soul. This book educated me, caused anger, resentment, but more importantly, it nourished my will to become more involved in, not only my own decolonization, but in that of others as well. I won't repeat the book's summary here; I will say only two things.

1) If you are a POC (Person of Color), especially from "Latin" America, and you live in North America, or in Europe, and you've never researched our continent's history outside a curated school context, this book will introduce you to what created the conditions that led to your parents leaving their land. It will likely open a door of awareness that will hopefully never close again. My hope is that it will inspire you to uncover more about your roots.

2) If you're a non-POC, a White person, this book will show you the role your ancestors played in creating the conditions for the problems now endemic and quasi-chronic in "Latin" America: poverty, illiteracy, cultural uprooting, government instability, just to name a few. Chances are that you will not like it. But, if you are one of those well-intentioned people who want to better understand the underbelly of how racism works in order to help dismantle it, you should read this book. Also, if you are one of those American assholes against "illegal aliens", read this book. Find out who the real illegal alien is.

[Glothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably a little one sided as it says little about the atrocities committed by native Americans before, during, or after invasion - although they are touched on briefly.

On one hand I think ‘so what?’ It was their country. On the other, I’m intelligent enough to realise that there was no golden age of human civilisation in any part of the world at any time and I feel that omission of those details suggests that there was.

Despite all that this is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It contains all the information American history books are still too afraid to mention. If a child ever complains that north America has no ancient history hand them this book. I’m sure I shed a tear at the end. Beautifully written and a real shame that it had to finish. One of those long pause and reflect moments.

[Kalkino · Rating 4 out of 5]

(note - this review was written several years ago for a private site)

I have to admit that this has been one of the more depressing things I have ever read, provoking a reaction similar to what I experienced while watching Hotel Rwanda. It also provided some insights, which directly challenged the received wisdom that I had accumulated from other sources. Turns out I can't trust JT Edson.


The story


Wright looks at the effects of the conquest upon what he deems to be the five major societies or states that existed at the time of contact. The five groups were the Incans, Maya, Aztecs, Cherokee, and Iroquois, each representing a different type of state, ranging from loose tribal federation to centralised Imperial power. Each of the five groups is examined at three different periods in their history of contact, and their progress or decline noted. The key observation being that whenever this decline has been stabilised or slowed the indigenous group again suffers European (initially external or settler) attack or oppression. It just never seems to stop.


Wright’s Thesis:


1. Cultural genocide was practiced by the occupying Europeans, often till quite recently. Offenders include the occupying power, the local state and the various Christian religious groups, specifically the Catholic Church, and more recently evangelical Christian movements.


2. The inability of indigenous American populations to throw off the occupying powers in the way that African or Asian colonised peoples did is largely due the massive population loss.


3. In many American countries the occupying European settlers created a regime of racial preference similar to the racist regimes of apartheid South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. Such systems exist to this day, but gather little international attention.


There were three things that surprised me, the scale of the deaths due to imported illnesses, the deliberate cultural genocide, and how long this state of affairs has lasted. The last two of which were especially surprising. I find it incredibly hard to believe that people could systematically destroy other cultures in the way that Wright states, but it apparently did happen. After all, long term occupation and exploitation is hard if the indigenous people are still rebelling.


The most shocking part for me was the stories of the Inca and Aztec, how complete their destruction was, how long they have been brutally oppressed by their occupier. The fact that any part of their culture or history still exists is a surprise, and is probably due to the sheer scale of their populations pre contact. It is similar in scale to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the sack of Greater Iran by the Mongols and then the Turks. These societies, populations and quality of life have only really recovered to close to pre contact levels since the mid 20th century, and even then not really.


To be constantly confronted by the raw facts and figures of the conquest of the Americas, to put a number on the dead, to see listed the crimes, that is a shocking thing. As a resident of a settler nation that has recently examined its relationship and history with its indigenous population I should not be really surprised by this book, but I am, probably due to the scale of the events. They totally dwarf anything that I have read about in New Zealand or Australia (this is not meant to insult indigenous readers).


You want to hope that the litany of tragedy lies in the past, because the modern world would not allow such events to still occur, but it is not to be. The Canadian Mohawk rebellion of 1990, then the Zapatista revolt in Mexico are but two examples of the dissatisfaction that still exists. We may live in the 21st century, but the crimes of the early Modern era still haunt us.


Conclusion


Wright delivers this information extremely well, using a combination of emotive language and cold, hard facts. The three-era/five-group structure lets Wright keep the events in context to what happened to other groups. This works well, it allows each group’s experiences to reinforce each, it gives a point of comparison. Lest the reader dare think that the terrible events were isolated, that others had it better. The reader is never given the opportunity to think that. To call it compelling reading is an understatement, it is impossible to put down. Read this book if you want to know the sordid truth about the colonisation of the Americas.

[Hugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly remarkarble book that tells the story of the 'discovery' of the Americas through Indian eyes. As history is always told by the victors, 1492 is seen as the beggining of the 'modern world' with all positive connotations associated with it. But, for the First Americans it was the beggining of an invasion, repression and genocide that continues to this day. More than 90% of the original American died through diseases and direct killing. Ronald Wright tells us the story of the conquest as it was seen by five native peoples (the Aztec, the Maya, the Incas, the Cherokee and the Iroquois) using the records that survived the invasion.

For the Indians, the arrival of the Europeans brought disease, killing, subjugation and treachery. Treachery was commonly used especially with the Cherokee and the Iroquois. Time and time again these nations were forced to sell their territories being promised that they would never be bothered again. Their territories were gradually reduced until they were incorporated in the alien country. It's remarkable the hypocrisy of these governments when they use treaties in trial signed by the Indians because they had no choice and discover that they constantly broke them.

During the 19th century, governments in Mexico, the US, Peru, Canada introduced the notion of private property and abolished all communal lands in the name of 'progress' and 'civilisation' which seriously damaged indigenous systems. This opened more land for the purchase of white settlers. Farming became more 'efficient' but the soil was seriously depleted within a century and farming is not an option in the areas affected. This is still happening but, now, on a global scale as peasants are driven out of their lands or forced to plant cash crops in order to make farming more 'efficient' (and to deplete the soil much more rapidly).

One of the most interesting parts of the book is when the author describes the food distribution system of the Incas and how effective it was. Also, at least with the cases studied, native american beliefs didn't proclaim they had the sole truth unlike Christianity. What missionaries did was, indeed, to try to destroy a culture.

However, the most curious part of the book is about how the Cherokee 'civilised' themselves installing a parliament, schools, hospitals and adapted their language to writing. They hoped this would save their culture from being incorporated in the US expanding imperial force. Nevertheless, the US government still considered that the Cherokee were under their jurisdiction as they now feared that these 'civilised' Indians could become a threat. It didn't matter what they did, they were doomed all along. The White man wanted more land. As Wright says, if the US was twice its size, all the land would still have been seized.

There were various instances of intended cultural genocide among all the peoples portrayed which the author describes very well. The amazing thing is that they managed to survive (some better than others) although the majority was assimilated into the mainstream culture. Neither the conquest nor the resistance is over. Indigenous peoples in the Amazon are being threatened by logging. But, finally, Indians are taking over some of their countries such as Peru and Bolivia. Is that a hopeful sign? Only the future will tell.

[Beorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

If it's not too strange a statement with which to open a book review, this is more the kind of read that I was hoping for from the much more well known Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West.
Where 'Bury...' seemed content with bombarding the reader with facts and history, this book on almost the same topic actually makes a point of humanising the main protagonists, making this feel a much more personal book than the relatively staid aforementioned alternative.

This book also scores points over Bury My Heart by including the stories of the Inca, Aztec and Maya too which filled in a lot of grey spaces in my knowledge.

The only discernible disappointing thing about this book is that it is now around twenty three years old so it would be nice if it were reissued with an added section updating the reader on what has happened in the time since the book's release.

[Marshall · Rating 2 out of 5]

This history of the conquest and resistance of Native Americans alternates between horrifying and boring. I knew some of the harrowing tales of mistreatment of Native Americans by the Europeans, but some of the tales in this book still shocked me. It makes me feel cynical about human nature. However, most of this book was fairly drab. The author was clearly very fired up about it, but he failed to infect me with the same passion for the subject.

One of his goals, and I suppose it was partially achieved, is to raise awareness of Native American rights. Both morally and officially, this is not "our" land. It's theirs. It's always been theirs. Much of it was never officially ceded, so in that sense, the conquest continues to this day. Some Native American groups continue to resist this invasion, which to them seems very much like it would for any sovereign nation defending their territory. Even some of the horrible treatment by the U.S. and Canada continues to this day, and there simply isn't enough awareness of it for people to care.

[Mary-Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great overview of the history and what happened to 5 different people groups native to North America when the Europeans arrived. I gained knowledge and respect for the various people groups and their uniqueness. For example, the first zoo was discovered in Mexico by the Europeans. Also, the Mayans had a complex way of measuring time, involving three different calendars. A caution to the book is that the author is obviously hostile towards Christianity bringing its message to the "New World".

[Lian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful. It is a must read. You will see the Americas as well as European "conquerors" from an entirely new perspective.

[Ushan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of the European encounter with five American Indian nations - the Aztecs, the Maya, the Inca, the Cherokee and the Iroquois. There are fifteen chapters in all, with a chapter on the European conquest of each nation, their fates under the conquest, and the current situation. The book starts with Columbus, Cortés, Pizarro, Moctezuma and Atawallpa, and ends with Sendero Luminoso, Rigoberta Menchú Tum and the Oka crisis. "Extremely fascinating" is not strong enough an expression; among other things I didn't know, this book tells that Atawallpa intended to breed the Spaniards' horses and make the Spaniards into court eunuchs, and he would have done so if it hadn't been for the smallpox epidemic; that the first great American book in a European language was the story of the De Soto expedition written by the son of one of Atawallpa's cousins and a Spanish captain; that the Aztec priests of Quetzalcoatl challenged the Franciscan friars to a debate, a Nahuatl record of which lay unnoticed in the archives of Vatican until the twentieth century; that in 1923 an Iroquois delegation went to the League of Nations in Geneva to ask for the international recognition of their nation, and some delegations including that of Estonia favored it. Wright stresses several times that Tzvetan Todorov's book on the conquest of the Americas is very ignorant; well, what can you expect from a postmodernist philosopher?

What I found missing is the discussion of the irony that permeates much of the modern white-indigenous relations. For several years I went to an English-language Internet forum, one (still active) participant of which was a Cherokee (although her father and maternal grandfather were white); she was a locally prominent America- and white-basher (for example, after 9/11 she said she hoped the United States gets nuked). Yet in February this year she wrote (I just checked; I hope she doesn't mind me quoting her), "Ward Churchill literally disguised himself as an American Indian to shield himself from criticism of his extreme anti-Americanism for decades. He is an obvious crackpot, but no one would call him on it for fear of appearing racist." Isn't this fear is the defining characteristic of the white-indigenous relations in the non-European Western world nowadays? In the 2005 afterword Wright notes that although some of Rigoberta Menchú Tum's specific claims were found to be lies, the larger picture she showed was correct. No, Rigoberta's critics claimed that it was not correct; otherwise, there would have been no reason for her to lie. In the 16th century the Spanish used Indians to provide slave labor in silver mines; are the Americans now using Indians to "provide rebels in far-off places, into whom careerists can project their fantasies of rebellion"?

Wright quotes Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, who claims that "From capitalism's point of view, communal cultures ... are enemy cultures." Well, Galeano himself is not much of a communalist, since he publishes his books under his own name and not as a part of a collective of progressive Uruguayan writers, and probably derives his income from his writing under the rules of capitalism. Wright also quotes Galeano's dictum, "Some countries are poor because other countries are rich." Economic historians have been struggling for centuries to understand, why some countries are poor and others are rich; if only they had listened to the Uruguayan writer! I am all for letting the Indians tell their history; I am all against letting the tiersmondiste demagogues tell it.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ronald Wright is an excellent writer and this is an absorbing book. Wright tells the story of colonisation in America by focusing on the histories of five Indian civilisations - Inca, Maya, Aztec, Cherokee and Iroquois. These civilisations were chosen because they were the most complex societies at the time of first European contact and thus have left the best records.

The book is structured into both chronological and geographical divisions. Wright describes the three chronological divisions as corresponding roughly to the initial assault, the colonial period, and the period since the founding of settler republics. The geographical divisions correspond to those of the five civilisations - Inca in South America, Aztec and Maya in Central America, and Cherokee and Iroquois in North America.

This book shows us in chilling detail how each of these societies was brought to the brink of destruction by their European colonists, and how they have been kept in a state of disenfranchisement and subjugation ever since.

Prior to European contact each of these five societies were high functioning and successful. With the exception of the Aztecs their way of life was based on social values very different from those of their invaders - communal land ownership, redistribution of wealth from the more able to the less able, advancement through merit, social equality, and living in harmony with the environment.

The European invaders were lured to this land by greed for gold and land, an arrogant disregard for the rights of the existing inhabitants and a self-righteous belief in their religious and cultural superiority. They also brought deadly gifts from across the ocean - smallpox, measles, influenza, bubonic plague, yellow fever, cholera and malaria. The Indian people had virtually no resistance to these diseases and the effect on their populations was devastating - by 1600 less than a tenth of the Indian population remained.

This was a turning point for the Indians. With their populations decimated they had no chance of defending their way of life from the colonising Europeans. Colonisation meant what it has meant all over the world - loss of land, loss of language, loss of history, culture, knowledge. Loss of power. The consequences are also the same all over the world - poverty, persecution, suppression, discrimination, alienation.

Despite all this, remnants of these civilisations remain. Against all odds they have managed to retain their language, their traditions and beliefs, and knowledge of their history. But without land and sovereignty they are mere shadows of the societies they once were. This book was written in 1992 and ends on a faint note of hope that things may be improving for the native peoples of this continent. Unfortunately I don't think that much progress has been made over the last 19 years. It would be great to have an update.

As I was reading this book the "Occupy Wall Street" protests were taking place in around 50 countries around the world. Citizens protesting about social and economic inequality and corporate greed - the very same values that led to the imperial colonialism and destruction of the Indian societies in this book. Perhaps we are finally starting to learn a lesson from our shameful past.

[Kamakana · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you like this review i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com

261017: this book alternates between inspiring anger and mourning. there is not much i did not know, in general terms, of the contact, cultural genocide, invasion of the European forces. this is more details, more exploration of five major people of the Americas, Inka, Aztec, Cherokee, Maya, Iroquois, and how their worlds collapsed, mainly by old world diseases, by advanced weaponry, by deceit, by cultural and political differences. this is one of those books to document how the arrival of Columbus was not 'discovery' but the beginnings of the ends of many people already there. perhaps to some introductory, this book is easy to read in text, hard to read in story...

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book! It helps one get out of the US-centric habit of calling "our" country "America" by lowering the red-white-and-blue curtain just enough to glimpse the true nature of the Conquest of the hemisphere. "Stolen" replaces the lie of "Discover" by fills in five of the many thousands of gaps in US education. I listened to an earlier audiobook version (there is a 2015 paperback edition as well). One of the best features of the book is that it brings the reader relatively up-to-date with the ongoing resistance of Indigenous peoples.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is hard to believe that when Columbus "discovered" the Americas there were already 100 million natives in North and South America.

A very interesting and thought provoking book. It is an overview of the Aztecs, Mayas. Incas, Cherokee and Iroquois from their first contact with Europeans to today. The book is divided into Invasion, Resistance and Rebirth. It covers a lot of territory but is a good primer for anyone interested in the issues.

[Rachel C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far, the most education I've ever received on aboriginal history. I am so glad I opened this book. It took me only a couple of days to finish because it's so easy to read and so interesting. Wright has the reader follow the Inca, Maya, Aztec, Cherokee and Iroquois from 1491 until 1990. It was so refreshing to read history from a different perspective. It's about time, too! I wish I had heard about it sooner.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Spuds. An excellent book and well researched if somewhat sentimental at times. Told mainly from the perspective of the various Amerindians during the colonial/conquest era, this book traces the history of the five main American Indian civilizations, the Aztecs, Mayans, Incas, Cherokee and Iroquois from the time of Columbus to the present day.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much of this was difficult to read as it is hard to imagine people being able to behave so badly and treating other people the way many Europeans (maybe most) treated the actual Americans, the Amerindians. It was well written and read more like a riveting story than a heavy history. There are lots of quotes from primary sources which add to the experience.

[Rafael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive analysis of the near genocidal invasion of the Americas and their resistance. It is nice to hear the voices of aboriginal folks from North, Central and South America, as a good counterweight to the official story which often erases them and their contributions.

[T.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and engaging, Wright makes good decisions about how to cover 500 years in a few hundred pages. We know the resistance continues, but great to see how clear today's actions connect culturally, politically and strategically to the those first contacts.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author presents the worlds and nations of the great five pre-Columbian Nations - Aztec (Mexica), Cherokee, Inca, Iroquois and the Maya and how they fell to the Europeans. This is a sobering but necessary examination of the tragic history of the indigenous peoples of this hmisphere.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

interesting information but too biased for my taste

[TwitchyHitcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this book. I've now read a few of these layman's macro level overviews of Native history and this is by far one of the best. These books can often leaving you wishing they were longer, or wishing the author would have fleshed out certain sections with more information but I actually never had that feeling here, even though this book attempts to explain 500yrs of history of 5 very different cultures in 300 pages or so.

Wright's narrative direction is a master class in how to write a compelling historical work. The book really grabs you by the balls from the jump and doesn't let up at any point. Its also an invaluable resource for other book recommendations, and I left with a whole stack of recommendations to continue my reading on this subject, which is the most important task of books like this in my opinion.

In short: absolutely loved it and would highly recommend it. ALSO, if you're in these reviews complaining that the book is "biased" because it doesn't contain European perspectives, please do us all a favor and just end it now, cause you're simply not gonna make it.

[Steffi Dias · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who wants to know America’s history told by the original inhabitants in their own words. The genocide that America or the world refuses to accept that happened many centuries ago and is still continuing to happen. It introduces you to the world of the selfless Amerindian- a term that you’ll hear for the first time. It’s an eye opener and needs to be introduced in schools to actually understand how North America came into being. The story of a freedom struggle that these natives continue to fight till date.

[Ramil Kazımov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amerika kıtasının modern avrupalılar tarafından yerlileden nasıl çalındığını anlatan harika bur kitap ! Kitap Kuzey ve Güney Amerikada yaşamış (ve gününüzde bile az sayıda yaşayan) yerli halklarının avrupalı sömürgeciler, onkarın silahları ve de mikropları ile nasıl dethedildiğini anlatıyor. Sözde demokratik olarak anılan ABD ve Kanadanın yerlilere karşı önyargılı davranışları insanı çileden çıkaracak kadar ikiyüzlü. Emperyalizm ve fetih konusuna ilgiduyan herkesin okuması gereken bir kitap.

[Anna C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never forget our nation- in fact every nation in this entire American hemisphere- is founded on genocide, a genocide so complete we're able to comfortably ignore it, at least until a book like this shakes our complacency. And never forget that although we claim to have learned the lessons of history, this erasure is still very much going- see, for example, what happened in Standing Rock.

This would be my choice of required reading for every American. And we'd be required to keep rereading and rereading this in perpetuity for as long as f**king Christopher Columbus day stays a thing.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first encountered Ronald Wright when I read TIMES AMONG THE MAYA which impressed me very much. I had done anthropological fieldwork in Xocempich, Yucatán decades before Wright had first visited. I was very curious and fascinated by what he told me in that book.

The next book that I read by Wright, STOLEN CONTINENTS, changed directions in scope. From being an archaeological adventure of discovery throughout Maya territory as in the first book, he dissected Western treatment of 5 highly sophisticated indigenous populations through analyzing their discovery, historical treatment of the people, and contemporary outcomes.

It is a big challenge to take but Wright did reasonably well in succeeding at his goal. His conclusions are very disconcerting and demonstrate major examples of inhumane treatment on the part of an invading and conquering culture(s).

To my dismay while hoping to contact him, I found his obituary instead of his address. He had died from Covid 19 in 2022. Although I had never met him, he has given me many valuable gifts.

[Vic · Rating 5 out of 5]

The focus of the wrongs done to Native Americans, thanks perhaps to Dee Brown’s “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee , tends to be on the Victorian 'West' in the United States. Wright reminds us that the “Indian Wars” , even in North America lasted for two and a half centuries and not just the thirty year period after the Civil War.

In South and Central America it started in the 15th century.

The fighting in the eastern United States both in colonial times and after independence seems to have been more extensive with greater casualties on both sides than in the West where some battles were, by comparison, no more than skirmishes.

One of the European justifications for the ‘stealing of these continents’ was that they were sparsely populated. I had not realised that in North American diseases introduced by the Spanish to the south and by casual contacts in the north with European traders and fishermen had wiped out huge numbers of Native Americans so that the population was considerably depleted even before the English landed in Virginia and Massachusetts .

There are no more ‘Indian Wars’ but the injustice continues in Brazil where Indians are still having to relive the Cherokees’ Trail of Tears’, pushed out of their homes to make way for hydroelectric dams and forest clearances

In North America too this age old conflict is still some way off resolution. In 1990 not 1890, the town of Oka in Quebec attempted to take land historically Mohawk in order to extend its golf course. The resulting conflict escalated to the point where 4000 Canadian troops, complete with tanks and helicopters besieged Mohawks , more soldiers than the US deployed against Sitting Bull. It seems it was the common sense of the Mohawks rather than any sensibility on the part of the Canadians which prevented a bloody battle to equal anything in the Indian wars of the preceding centuries.

This is a well written, well researched book. It taught me much I did not know and gave me new perspectives on things I thought I knew . I think it is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the Americas.

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a breathtaking book. It is one thing to know, more or less, that the European invasion was disastrous for the people already present in the "new world". It is another to get plain talk relating exactly how disastrous and in how many appalling ways.

Before the potential reader decides they just can't deal with this, let me say that this book is not entirely horrifying and disheartening. The extraordinary tenacity and resilience of many of these aboriginal people is feelingly presented and hope is not absent. Which is not to say that there were not places where I could only read a few pages at a time, or not times when I was overwhelmed with sadness or anger.

But these things need to be known, and it's pretty clear that the world view of the European invaders has played out in ways that are bringing all of us to disaster. Among the things that need to be known is that *there are other ways*, ways that have worked for thousands of years. And there are still people around who know about these ways. I do not mean we must all turn into whatever our distorted and perverted notion of "noble savages" amounts to. I mean that we can't keep doing what we've been doing and expect to survive. We need to see and think differently in order to act differently and there are different world views that may inform our search for a path forward.

I highly recommend reading this book.