Daniel Rey

Playing devil’s advocate: a Mexican historian defends the Conquistadors

The massacres that followed in the wake of Cortés and Pizarro were the result of a colossal misunderstanding, according to Fernando Cervantes

The Conquistadors massacre the Native Indians. Credit: Getty Images
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  • Conquistadores: A New History

    Fernando Cervantes

    Allen Lane, pp. 608, £30

Many books claim to describe junctures that changed the world but few examine ones as consequential as Conquistadores: A New History. Hailed by the Romantics as courageous explorers, the Spanish conquerors are increasingly seen as violent and rapacious exploiters. That, says Fernando Cervantes, oversimplifies the complexities of the early modern period.

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