The story of the conquest and early colonisation of the New World continues to attract the interest of scholars and students. The contacts between peoples that before the late fifteenth century did not know about each other's existence launched a phase of broad and deep transformations on a global scale. In Bartolomé de Las Casas and the Conquest of the Americas, Lawrence Clayton studies this eventful and complex period through the life of one of its central characters. A native of Seville in Spain, Bartolomé de Las Casas lived most of his life in the Caribbean and in Mexico as a friar of the Dominican order. In this position, he was immersed in the political struggles and debates of his time about the legitimacy of the Spanish conquest and the status of the indigenous population of the New World.

Most details of the story told in this book about Las Casas’ life and the early years of the Spanish conquest and colonisation of the New World are already known to historians of the period, so it is worth asking what this book adds to our knowledge of a subject that has been masterfully investigated by historians as prestigious as Lewis Hanke and Isacio Pérez Fernández, to name but two. There are good reasons why this book is timely. First, the story is not only unique and fascinating, but its effects are also still felt in the present. Our understanding of the history of international law, of human rights, ethnography and religious conversion, would be incomplete without knowledge of this period. Second, centuries after his death Bartolomé de Las Casas continues to draw our attention as the energetic man who, in a consistent and multi-faceted fashion, refused to conform to the dominant behaviour and ideology of his contemporaries, denouncing the violence and greed that characterised the treatment dispensed by the Spanish to the indigenous people of the New World. Third, this is a work addressing an audience not familiar with these events, and it tells the story strengthened by a wealth of recent contributions to the historiography surrounding the subject, and by new approaches to historical analysis.

Lawrence Clayton does a good job at situating the life of Las Casas within the larger picture of European discovery and colonisation, and narrates in an engaging style a highly complex story with several powerful characters performing their roles in different stages. Clayton is passionate about his subject and no doubt admires Las Casas, but does not depict him as a superhuman: he not only writes about his strengths, but also analyses his weaknesses and failures. Clayton also explains with much clarity the political and philosophical debates of the time and, interestingly, the way they were conducted, and furnishes a good account of how the New World was transformed during Las Casas’ time as new institutions like the encomienda were created, new officers arrived to replace the conquistadors’ coarse rule, and the Spaniards continued their explorations and conquests.

The author uses effectively the vast literature about the period and provides new readings of a number of primary sources, including the numerous works and letters Las Casas wrote during his remarkably long life (he lived more than 90 years). I was not persuaded by the imaginary dialogues and fictional incidents Clayton inserts occasionally with the aim, I assume, of conveying a sense that we are witnessing the events told in the story. The illustrations have no references and a few of them are anachronistic, leaving the reader wondering about their purpose. These minor quibbles notwithstanding, the book is a fine read and will be of immense help to those of us teaching this subject. Besides my students, I would recommend this book to anyone with a desire to understand better what is one of the most compelling periods in history.