Overlooking the significance of America's Hispanic past, the United States is typically perceived as an offshoot of Britain, with its history unfolding east to west, beginning with the first settlers in Jamestown. In an absorbing narrative, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto begins with the explorers and conquistadors who planted Spain's first colonies in Puerto Rico, Florida and the Southwest in the sixteenth century. Missionaries and rancheros carry Spain's expansive impulse into the late eighteenth century, settling in California, mapping the American interior to the Rockies and charting the Pacific coast. The nineteenth-century triumph of Anglo-America in the West is followed by the twentieth-century Hispanic resurgence, spreading from the West to cities including Chicago, Miami and Boston. Today's plural America is the product of its past.

About the Author
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, the William P. Reynolds Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, is the author of Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration and Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States. He lives in South Bend, Indiana, and London.

Reviews
"...clever, provocative and often very amusing 'Hispanic History'..." -- Literary Review
"...a brilliant, difficult book...There is much to learn, however, and much also to ponder, in this fluent and vigorous plea for a more positive approach to the present and future role of a major group of US citizens." -- The Times Literary Supplement
"Triumphantly rescues Hispanic America from obscurity." -- The Economist



Book Information
ISBN 9780393349825
Author Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 409g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 142mm * 30mm