After invading highland Guatemala in 1524, Spaniards claimed to have smashed the Kaqchikel and K'iche' Maya kingdoms and to have forged a new colony-with their leader, Pedro de Alvarado, as Guatemala's conquistador. This volume shows that the real story of the Spanish invasion was very different. Designed to be an accessible introduction to the topic as well as a significant contribution to conquest scholarship, the volume presents for the first time English translations of firsthand accounts by Spaniards, Nahuas, and Mayas.

Alvarado's letters to Cortes, published here in English for the first time in almost a century, are supplemented with accounts by one of his cousins, by his brother Jorge, and by Bernal Diaz and Bartolome de Las Casas. Nahua perspectives are presented in the form of pictorial evidence, along with written testimony by Tlaxcalan and Aztec veterans who fought as invading allies of the Spaniards; their claim to have done most of the fighting emerges as a powerful argument. The views of the invaded are represented by Kaqchikel and Tz'utujil accounts. Together, these sources reveal a fascinating multiplicity of perspectives and show how the conquest wars of the 1520s were a profoundly brutal moment in the history of the Americas.

About the Author

Matthew Restall is Sparks Professor of Latin American History at Penn State and the author of eight books on colonial Latin America, including Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest.

Florine G. L. Asselbergs is an independent scholar in the Netherlands and the author of Conquered Conquistadors, a groundbreaking study of the Guatemalan conquest.

Reviews

"[In] the second volume in the Latin American Originals series from Pennsylvania State University Press, Invading Guatemala: Spanish, Nahua, and Maya Accounts of the Conquest Wars, . . . Matthew Restall, well known for having laid to rest a number of misconceptions about the wars of conquest in his book Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest, joins forces with Florine Asselbergs to demolish the generally accepted vision of the conquest of Guatemala. The vivid picture that emerges is a much more complex, prolonged and tragic affair than traditional historiography would have us believe."

-Fernando Cervantes Times Literary Supplement

"This book is a great introduction as well as a scholarly contribution to conquest studies of the Americas."

-R. A. Santillan Choice

Book Information
ISBN 9780271027586
Author Matthew Restall
Format Paperback
Page Count 152
Imprint Pennsylvania State University Press
Publisher Pennsylvania State University Press
Weight(grams) 204g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 10mm