The historiography has usually presented the sixteenth-century debates about the status of the indigenous inhabitants of the New World as theological, political, legal and philosophical battles between Spanish protagonists such as Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, each arguing in favour or against the ‘condition of the “Indians”’ as free vassals of the Spanish Crown. The debates revolved around such fundamental issues as sovereignty, freedom and humanity, questions that became ever more pressing in a world that since the late fifteenth century had expanded and diversified at an incredibly rapid pace. The figure of Las Casas emerged from the debates, struggles and intense activity representing opposition to the encomienda that took place in the Americas and in Spain as the champion of the Amerindians’ rights. Nancy Van Deusen's book investigates the crucial themes of the debate from a different angle: that of the men and women who were taken to Castile as slaves and who years later sought their freedom through the legal system. By choosing this alternative viewpoint to investigate the problem of Indian slavery, Van Deusen has produced an innovative study that urges historians and scholars of other related disciplines to reconsider a number of key categories currently used to understand Latin American colonial history and, to a great extent, the early modern world.

Global Indios studies a specific time period, the sixteenth century, and focuses on a discrete group of people: enslaved Amerindians living in Castile who went to the courtroom demanding no less than a change in their status and to become free men and women. The number of documented cases is not large, as the author explains, but the analysis of the sources and the discussion of the themes the book offers is extremely detailed and the argument compelling. The investigation covers a range of levels: from local history and individual stories, to transatlantic and global ambits, from the problem of cruelty and abuse to the examination of the concept of slavery and the shaping of the category of indio. Contrary to the notion that enslavement of Amerindians did not involve a large number of people, especially since Queen Isabela's well-known intervention against the practice and the corresponding decree issued in 1501 declaring Indians free vassals of the Crown, Van Deusen's book reveals its continuity and extent, and demonstrates that its impact was considerable. Indio slaves were taken from their places of origin in Central America, South America and Brazil to locations within the continent, with many reaching cities and villages in the Iberian peninsula, where they were usually placed as domestic servants.

The chapters explaining the new circumstances in which enslaved men and women were forced to live offer a rich discussion of the social milieu and culture that shaped the position assigned to captive Amerindians in Castile. Castilian society at the local level was in turn transformed by the incorporation of the new arrivals and the news and novelties coming from different corners of the world. To a great extent, enslaved indios embodied the expanded and connected world emerging from the experience of travel, conquest, war and colonisation not only of the Americas but also of other parts of the world. The issuing of the New Laws meant the victory of those who opposed the encomienda and the enslavement of the indigenous people of the New World. This scenario encouraged enslaved indios in Castile to demand their freedom through legal means.

Van Deusen's substantial analysis of the legal procedures conducted to deal with indios’ demands for freedom considers a range of facets, from how the concept of indio took form, which involves the language used to describe people of non-European origin, to better known and varied legal definitions and approaches to establish their legal status. The author's argument about the power of documents and the use of evidence in the shaping of indios is highly convincing. Individual and collective behaviours, as well as ideas about the world as a space consisting of regions with names, locations and characteristics that were poorly understood, also took part in the making of the idea and condition of indio. The diverse agents participating in the story interacted at the domestic, local and global level and as a result new identities and perceptions of humanity were formed. The scope of the issues studied is wide and complex, and the author makes an excellent job of dissecting and connecting them all in this fine work, carefully built with admirable patience and erudition.

Global Indios will prompt historians and scholars in other fields to rethink crucial themes around the beginnings of Spanish colonialism and beyond in a new light: the meaning of indio, the complex form in which many social relations were created and cemented, the shaping of ideas about race, the idea of justice as a universal value, and how pertinent it is to think of the concept of global history at this early stage. This book is indeed a major contribution to the historiography on colonialism.