Bartolom 's eye-opening account of Spanish colonialism in the early to mid-16th century has for centuries been a pivotal source on the topic. Following the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1497, a great interest in the new and virgin lands was sparked in Europe. Spain, eager to capitalise on the great resources and wealth present, sent successive fleets of vessels to the Caribbean to set up colonial outposts as footholds in the new continent. Despite being small in number, the Spanish colonists had superior arms and were able to forcibly subdue the native populations. Murder, rape and other atrocities were commonplace in the process, with many natives afterwards becoming enslaved. While wealth was amassed, the moral depravity involved would appal the socially conscious at home. For his part, Las Casas would assume place as a dogged defender of West Indian peoples, putting pressure on the Spanish court to enact laws protecting native welfare.

Bartolome de las Casas (Sevilla, 1474-Madrid, 1566). Espana. En 1502 fue a La Espanola (hoy Republica Dominicana) para hacerse cargo de las propiedades de su padre. Diez anos despues fue el primer sacerdote ordenado en America. Mas tarde vivio en Cuba y obtuvo numerosas riquezas gracias a los repartimientos y encomiendas. En 1514 regreso a Espana, y renuncio a todas sus propiedades. Afectado por su experiencia americana, pretendio imponer un nuevo modelo de evangelizacion y se convirtio en un ferviente defensor de los derechos de los indios. Sin embargo, su actitud provoco la enemistad de obispos, gobernadores y miembros del poderoso e influyente Consejo de Indias. En 1520 volvio a America para poner en practica en Cumana (Venezuela) sus ideas sobre una colonizacion pacifica. Fracaso. Anos despues predico en tierras de Nicaragua y Guatemala, hasta que en 1540 regreso a Espana, donde fue uno de los mas destacados impulsores de las Leyes Nuevas (1542). Nombrado obispo en Sevilla, en 1544, tomo posesion de la diocesis de Chiapas (provincia de la capitania general de Guatemala), alli denuncio los crimenes de los colonos. Tuvo muchos enemigos. En 1546 paso a Mexico y un ano despues regreso a Espana. Durante esta epoca redacto su Historia de las Indias (1552-1561), publicada en 1875. Su defensa de los indigenas le hizo reclamar la presencia de negros africanos para que trabajasen como esclavos en America en lugar de aquellos.

Bartolome de las Casas's A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies stands as one of history's most damning narratives of Spanish colonization that was ever written. Las Casas chronicled gory details of Spanish mistreatment of the native American Indians, an abuse which led to entire communities being wiped out. This account eventually provoked the Spanish crown to enact laws intended to protect the Indians, and earned Bartolome de las Casas the title 'Defender of the Indians.'

2011 Reprint of the 1920 Edition. Illustrated by Cosgrove. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This is the actual log of Christopher Columbus as copied out by his companion, Bartholomew Las Casas. Besides being authentic source material about the voyage and the core of the Columbus legend, this journal has all the day-by-day enchantment of a long sea voyage with all the drama of a small ship steering into the unknown-the first pelican, a crab in the seaweed, a branch of roseberries and a carved log found floating in the water, mutterings of mutiny and the constant watch for signs of land. John Cosgrove, the illustrator, adds to the book on every page with pictures of whales and riggings, compasses and charts, which are both decorative and accurate pictorial footnotes to the log.

Fifty years after the arrival of Columbus, at the height of Spain's conquest of the West Indies, Spanish bishop and colonist Bartolome de las Casas dedicated his Brevisima Relacion de la Destruicion de las Indias to Philip II of Spain. An impassioned plea on behalf of the native peoples of the West Indies, the Brevisima Relacion catalogues in horrific detail atrocities it attributes to the king's colonists in the New World. The result is a withering indictment of the conquerors that has cast a 500-year shadow over the subsequent history of that world and the European colonization of it. Andrew Hurley's daring new translation dramatically foreshortens that 500 years by reversing the usual priority of a translation; rather than bring the Brevisima Relacion to the reader, it brings the reader to the Brevisima Relacion -- not as it is, but as it might have been, had it been originally written in English. The translator thus allows himself no words or devices unavailable in English by 1560, and in so doing reveals the prophetic voice, urgency and clarity of the work, qualities often obscured in modern translations. An Introduction by Franklin Knight, notes, a map, and a judicious set of