W George Lovell Libri

A thoroughly updated and expanded edition of Lovell's classic account of the violence that has wracked Guatemala, from its roots in the colonial past to its aftermath in the twenty-first century

"In all the annals of Spanish conquests in the Americas, there is no one to compare with Pedro de Alvarado. This brutal conquistador took a fleet, and many reluctant Guatemalan Mayas, to muscle in on Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire. Defeated by forests, mountains, volcanic eruption, and adverse weather, Alvarado was bought off in a deal to rival one between modern Mafia families. George Lovell tells this lurid, little-known story with clarity and élan." John Hemming, author of People of the Rainforest: The Villas Boas Brothers, Explorers and Humanitarians of the Amazon

Guatemala emerged from the clash between Spanish invaders and Maya cultures that began five centuries ago. The conquest of these 'rich and strange lands', as Hernan Cortes called them, and their 'many different peoples' was brutal and prolonged. This book examines the ramifications of Spanish intrusion, especially Maya resistance to it.