Southwestern Historical Quarterly

After publishing numerous books and articles on early New Spain and Spanish Texas over a six-decade career, Donald E. Chipman has written a narrative history of the early years of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, focusing on the activities of Christopher Columbus and Hernando Cortés. The book begins with Columbus's first voyage in 1492 and concludes with Hernando Cortés's loss of administrative power to royal government in 1529.

The book is written for students and general readers. Latin American specialists will find that it covers familiar ground about conquest and colonization, but it could be a useful source for college instructors preparing class materials about the early conquest period. For Texas historians, the book can offer deep background and context for the later explorations and settlement of the northern frontier of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.

Readers will find a wealth of interesting information about the early years of Spanish exploration and conquest. The author offers a lively narrative of Columbus's and Cortés's encounters with new lands and establishing early Spanish colonies in the Americas. He notes the conquistadors' lust for wealth and status while describing these first encounters. He also illustrates the complex role of militant Christianity in the exploitation of Native inhabitants and chronicles the endless internal squabbling that hampered Spanish colonization. The narrative records the frequent conflicts with hostile Natives and describes the gradual institutionalization of Spanish administration over the first four decades of settlement. Chipman does not downplay the mistreatment and enslavement of Native Americans by the colonists, explaining the mix of greed and religious conviction that allowed them to rationalize their behavior.

In dealing with the exploits of Columbus and Cortés, Chipman is by no means an apologist for their actions, seeking instead to include both the positives and negatives of their often-contradictory personal traits. He acknowledges Columbus's abrasive ego as a consistent source of his clashes with Spanish officials, seafaring colleagues, and colonists and that his belief in Christian superiority over "naked pagans" allowed him to sanction their mistreatment. He also points out that Columbus's overwhelming self-belief, his zeal, and courage to the point of recklessness were key to his successes as an explorer. Juxtaposing Cortés's positive and negative traits, Chipman points out that he was physically strong, a brave and self-confident war leader, a gifted writer and orator, an adept businessman, and deeply religious. However, he was also a sly manipulator of both friends and foes, a zealot whose religious beliefs justified treating pagans [End Page 583] very harshly, a womanizer, and a cardsharp who used marked cards and cheated his own men.

Because the author's intended audience is students and general readers, each chapter has its own bibliography of secondary works and primary sources translated into English instead of notes. Helpful aids to the reader include a note on weights, measures, and money; genealogical charts; and maps showing the nautical and land routes used by the conquerors.