Stolen Continents: The "New World" Through Indian Eyes (Paperback)

by Ronald Wright (Author) "Columbus fell from royal grace, lost his governorship, and died in Spain poor and half forgotten..." (more)
Key Phrases: condoled chiefs, covenant chain, United States, Six Nations, Cherokee Nation (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Wright ( Time Among the Maya ) here presents a "New World" history, told from the perceived perspective of natives and lambasting the conquering whites, going back to Columbus: Cortes, de Soto, Pizarro, for example, are seen as crass, cruel, greedy invaders. To illustrate what he views as an epic wrong, the author probes five tragic encounters--with Aztec, Maya, Inca, Cherokee and Iroquois cultures. Using materials recorded as contemporaneously as possible, from the Incas to Cherokee principal chief Wilma Mankiller, the book follows a trail of treachery, blood and futility. Had the white race's diseases not wreaked havoc on the natives, writes the author, the "conquest" may have ended differently. While his scholarship proves marvelous, Wright's disjointed account is not likely to hold the reader's attention.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
Clear and concise history detailing the experiences of Native Americans on both continents from 1492 to 1990, from travel-writer and Mayan specialist Wright (Time Among The Maya, 1989; On Fiji Islands, 1986, etc.). Rather than attempt a comprehensive rendering of the centuries of genocide practiced by those who came in the wake of Columbus, Wright sensibly opts to present a few of the ``highlights.'' The savagery practiced against five major cultures--the Maya, Inca, Aztec, Cherokee, and Iroquois--and their responses appear in three stages, encompassing five hundred years: the initial periods of contact in each case; the hard and bloody struggles of these peoples once the battle was joined; and the modern phase, in which resistance continues along with the resolve to endure. Using contemporary native accounts wherever possible, in the belief that the white version has been heard often enough, Wright recounts Montezuma's failed strategy to welcome Cort‚s as an equal, which led to his palace becoming his prison; the Cherokee Nation's willingness two centuries later to emulate Western civilization, which only brought forced removal to Oklahoma and death along the Trail of Tears; and other base betrayals. Even with their societies largely destroyed, however, retention of an indigenous identity for the Incan descendants in Peru and their Mayan counterparts in Guatemala, and events such as last year's tense standoff between defiant Iroquois and thousands of Canadian troops can be seen, Wright says, as evidence that a determined native resistance continues. Familiar facts but a distinctive viewpoint: an intensely partisan chronicle of centuries of dishonor, written in a fluid, vivid style. (Sixteen-page b&w photo insert--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (February 8, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395659752
• ISBN-13: 978-0395659755
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #702,650 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very accurate history, July 13, 1998

By	Dr. Dennis Ramsey (Fresno, Ca USA) - See all my reviews

I can't speak for the history of all the five nations, but my wife is Cherokee. Her family predates the arrival of the white race. She has a big thick book documenting the family genealogy compiled by her father, a true researcher. The words of Dragging Canoe, a realitive, are comprehensive and exact. Some quotes are new to the family, so Mr. Wright really did his research.

Mr. Wright painted an eye opening view of the real American Indian history, not what I learned in school and saw on TV.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential book in the history of the Americas, May 18, 1998

By	Lorna McLeod ([e-mail]) (Sedona, Arizona) - See all my reviews

As a native American whose people came perilously close to being wiped out completely, I welcome and applaud the care, consideration and integrity with which Ronald Wright has addressed the history of five native nations in the Americas--the Aztecs, Maya, Inca, Iroquois and Cherokee. By selecting cultures from north, central and south America, he shows, unequivocally, how pervasive disease and the voracious appetite for gold, land and vassals were in the nearly total devastation of the peoples of this land.

This book should be a "must" read for high school and college students in every nation in the Americas. It is phenomenal in its exploration of past and current circumstances of native Americans.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Add this to your Curriculum, March 25, 2001

By	Jay "Jay" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

My emotions, while reading this book, ranged from disbelief to outrage. Do not read this book on a full stomach.

For me, Ronald Wright exposed the faulty notion of America's 'virgin wilderness'. Before I read this I did not appreciate the size or sophistication the Native American nations he has profiled in 'Stolen Continents'.

Though this is a tragic history, it is one that should be told. The section on 'Rebirth' is encouraging, for some nations. For others it seems like the relentless attacks, that have deprived so many of so much, will never end.

I hope Mr. Wright profiles other aboriginal nations with this all too rare perspective.