Paul Johnson

Coffers and Cannibals

Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire

By

Weidenfeld & Nicolson 604pp £25 order from our bookshop

THE SPANISH CONQUEST of the Indies was one of the most important events in history, leaving an ineffaceable impression on global politics, language and culture. Yet among English speakers it is a strangely neglected subject. We know about Pizarro and ‘stout Cortez’ (whom Keats confused with Balboa), and, of course, Columbus. But that is all. The Times Historical Atlas devotes only two pages to Spanish and Portuguese colonialism, though they extended throughout the world. Moreover, there is a general notion that the conquest was easy, effected by a combination of bluff, ruthlessness and cruelty.

Follow Literary Review on Twitter

  • Last Tweets

    • Start your week with a dose of Russian Revolutionary zeal. Donald Rayfield reviews Tobie Mathew's 'Greetings From t… ,
    • A treat from the LR Archive: exactly 20 years ago, Malcolm Bradbury reviewed John Updike's 'Bech at Bay' ,
    • ‘When bullets come close, the noise they make as they go past changes from a zing to a crack’ John Lanchester's dy… ,
    • Man with a Bloody Paintbrush: Robin Simon on Lucian Freud ,
    • Jane Ridley reviews The Diaries of Kenneth Rose (ed. D R Thorpe) ,
    • ‘Look,’ says Trump. ‘The fact is I’m only human.’ On the evidence of this book that point is debatable. From the A… ,
    • From our December/January issue - here's John Banville's review of Colm Tóibín on the fathers of Wilde, Yeats and J… ,
    Follow Us