 Empires of the Atlantic World
Britain and Spain in America 1492-1830
J.H. Elliott
Winner of the 2007 Francis Parkman Prize awarded by the Society of American Historians for the best book in American history
Selected as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2007 by Choice Magazine
Selected as a 2007 "Outstanding" book by AAUP University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries Shortlisted for the 2006 Hessel-Tiltman History Prize, awarded by the English PEN Club.
Narrated by Simon Vance
Approximately 10 hours
Abridged $25.00
September
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Book published by Yale University Press
This epic history compares the empires built by Spain and Britain in the Americas, from Columbus’s arrival in the New World to the end of Spanish colonial rule in the early nineteenth century. J. H. Elliott, one of the most distinguished and versatile historians working today, offers us history on a grand scale, contrasting the worlds built by Britain and by Spain on the ruins of the civilizations they encountered and destroyed in North and South America.
Elliott identifies and explains both the similarities and differences in the two empires’ processes of colonization, the character of their colonial societies, their distinctive styles of imperial government, and the independence movements mounted against them. Based on wide reading in the history of the two great Atlantic civilizations, the book sets the Spanish and British colonial empires in the context of their own times and offers us insights into aspects of this dual history that still influence the Americas.
The abridgment is roughly half of the complete text. The complete, print edition is available at Yale University Press. Please click on the above link.
J.H. Elliott is Regius Professor Emeritus of Modern History, University of Oxford. His previous books include The Count-Duke of Olivares, A Palace for a King (with Jonathan Brown), and Spain and Its World, 1500—1700, all published by Yale University Press. Among the many honors he has received are the Wolfson Prize for History, the Prince of Asturias Prize for the Social Sciences, and the Balzan Prize for History.
Simon Vance (narrator) is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards (AudioFile), an Audie Award (Audio Publishers Association), three Audiobook of the Year Awards (AudioFile), and the profession’s highest honor, a Golden Voice (AudioFile).
REVIEWS:
“[A] magisterial comparative history of empire of the Americas.... [A] richly textured comparative history.... [A] meticulously researched and elegantly executed synthesis.... Mr. Elliott’s achievement is to identify with brilliant clarity the similarities and differences between British and Spanish America while embroidering his analysis with memorable details.”
—Niall Ferguson, Wall Street Journal “[A] monumental analysis of two New World empires... Elliott...uses the story of each colonisation to illuminate the other. He challenges our prejudices about the Spanish conquest and the patriotic myths that have grown up around the English one. There is nothing black and white about this book. ... Elliott's writing...moves with a gentle rhythm of a sea swell to carry the reader along.”
—Christian Tyler, Financial Times Magazine “…how stimulating comparative history can be, especially when carried out with the meticulous care and breathtaking expertise that are on display on virtually every page of this handsome book. … This appraisal can barely begin to do justice to the formidable scholarship and the wealth of suggestions and insights contained in this magnificent book. Merely to have written a synthesis of either of the two empires would have been a brave undertaking and an impressive tour de force. But to have produced such a detailed and illuminating comparative synthesis of both, with hardly a dull paragraph despite its dispassionate – perhaps at times too dispassionate – scholarship, is a mighty triumph. Seldom can comparative history have been done so thoroughly, and presented with such flair, authority and aplomb.”
—Fernando Cervantes, Times Literary Supplement “As with all Elliott's books, the architecture and the scope are breathtaking. Empires of the Atlantic World covers almost every imaginable aspect of the imperial experience, from politics and economics to art and law, religion and literature, science and technology: all encompassed within a single narrative which takes us from discovery in 1492 to the eve of final independence of the Spanish-American colonies in 1830.”
—Anthony Pagden, London Review of Books “So skilled ... that it continually generates fresh insights forged out of familiar materials.... This is an indispensable and richly rewarding contribution to both the art of comparative history and the story of early America.”
—Richard R. Johnson, The Journal of American History “My favorite recent book of American history is, perhaps surprisingly, by an English scholar of the history of Spain. A model of comparative history, Empires succeeds in placing the formative years of the area that became the United States in a consistently illuminating hemispheric perspective.”
—Eric Foner, New York Times Book Review “Elliott's mastery of Spanish materials is especially impressive and allows him to show how Spanish America 'was large enough to provide the setting for a variety of holy experiments'.... It is refreshing to read, towards the end of this brilliant, compelling book, that in the British colonies 'a distinctively, American identity' was not so much the cause of revolution as the result.”
—Tom D'Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor “Our current debate about immigration isn't only about clamping down on the U.S.-Mexican border. It's also about what it means to be an American after 9/11 and about how the nation is revamping the concept of citizenship. And it's an opportunity to reassess yet again, the relationship between the United States and its neighbors to the south, a chance to reflect on the role of Hispanic culture in the English-speaking world. For those eager to understand the historical context behind these issues, I know of no more comprehensive, readable source than J.H. Elliott's Empires of the Atlantic World.... A feast of insights.”
—Ilan Stavans, Washington Post Book World TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Part 1. Occupation
1. Intrusion and Empire: Hernán Cortés and Christopher Newport
2. Occupying American Space: Physical occupation
3. Confronting American Peoples: A mosaic of peoples; coexistence and segregation
4. Exploiting American Resources: Plunder and ‘improvement’; labour supply
Part 2. Consolidation
5. Crown and Colonists: Authority and resistance
6. The Ordering of Society: Hierarchy and control
7. America as Sacred Space: God’s providential design
8. Empire and Identity: Transatlantic communities
Part 3. Emancipation
9. Societies on the Move: Moving frontiers
10. War and Reform: The Seven Years War and imperial defence; the drive for reform
11. Empires in Crisis: A community divided
12. A New World in the Making: The search for legitimacy; the end of empire
Epilogue
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