Franciscan friar Bartolomé de las Casas witnessed the terrible depredations visited by Spanish colonialism upon the lands and the indigenous people of the Americas and denounced them in no uncertain terms in this text, considered by many to be one of the most important challenges to hegemonic narratives of colonial "civilization" in the Americas. Translator Hurley (English, U. of Puerto Rico) has attempted to preserve the original flavor of the work by allowing himself no words not available in English in 1560 and selecting the more "biblical" sounding words when faced with a choice. This edition also contains an introduction by Knight (history, Johns Hopkins U.) presenting the historical background to the text. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)