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Here is an intriguing exploration of the ways in which the history of the Spanish Conquest has been misread and passed down to become popular knowledge of these events. The book offers a fresh account of the activities of the best-known conquistadors and explorers, including Columbus, Cortes, and ...

Here is an intriguing exploration of the ways in which the history of the Spanish Conquest has been misread and passed down to become popular knowledge of these events. The book offers a fresh account of the activities of the best-known conquistadors and explorers, including Columbus, Cortes, and Pizarro. Using a wide array of sources, historian Matthew Restall highlights seven key myths, uncovering the source of the inaccuracies and exploding the fallacies and misconceptions behind each myth. This vividly written and authoritative book shows, for instance, that native Americans did not take the conquistadors for gods and that small numbers of vastly outnumbered Spaniards did not bring down great empires with stunning rapidity. We discover that Columbus was correctly seen in his lifetime--and for decades after--as a briefly fortunate but unexceptional participant in efforts involving many southern Europeans. It was only much later that Columbus was portrayed as a great man who fought against the ignorance of his age to discover the new world. Another popular misconception--that the Conquistadors worked alone--is shattered by the revelation that vast numbers of black and native allies joined them in a conflict that pitted native Americans against each other. This and other factors, not the supposed superiority of the Spaniards, made conquests possible. The Conquest, Restall shows, was more complex--and more fascinating--than conventional histories have portrayed it. Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest offers a richer and more nuanced account of a key event in the history of the Americas.

"Jeffrey Meyer takes his readers on a very different 'tour' of Washington, D.C. He excavates the ways in which core convictions of a nation are embodied in space and expressed in art and architecture. "Myths in Stone "is a rich evocation of the dynamic life of America's sacred center."--Edward T ...

"Jeffrey Meyer takes his readers on a very different 'tour' of Washington, D.C. He excavates the ways in which core convictions of a nation are embodied in space and expressed in art and architecture. "Myths in Stone "is a rich evocation of the dynamic life of America's sacred center."--Edward T. Linenthal, author of "Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America's Holocaust Museum"

"Meyer is a seasoned guide leading the reader through the swamps, thickets, and political sticky wickets of the history of this capital city on the banks of the Potomac. All the while, he regales the reader with tales of the motley cast, the noble and the not-so-noble, the visionaries and the near-sighted, who helped to create the capital as we know it today. No other work captures the ongoing nature of the multiple retellings of this myth-in-stone as well as Meyer's has."--Gary Ebersole, author of "Captured by Texts: Puritan to Postmodern Images of Indian Captivity"

Medusa, the Gorgon, who turns those who gaze upon her to stone, is one of the most popular and enduring figures of Greek mythology. Long after many other figures from Greek myth have been forgotten, she continues to live in popular culture. In this fascinating study of the legend of Medusa, Stephen ...

Medusa, the Gorgon, who turns those who gaze upon her to stone, is one of the most popular and enduring figures of Greek mythology. Long after many other figures from Greek myth have been forgotten, she continues to live in popular culture. In this fascinating study of the legend of Medusa, Stephen R. Wilk begins by refamiliarizing readers with the story through ancient authors and classical artwork, then looks at the interpretations that have been given of the meaning of the myth through the years. A new and original interpretation of the myth is offered, based upon astronomical phenomena. The use of the gorgoneion, the Face of the Gorgon, on shields and on roofing tiles is examined in light of parallels from around the world, and a unique interpretation of the reality behind the gorgoneion is suggested. Finally, the history of the Gorgon since tlassical times is explored, culminating in the modern use of Medusa as a symbol of Female Rage and Female Creativity.