A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies

By: Bartolome de las Casas

Narrated by: Jason McCoy

A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies is the story of the Spanish Dominican priest Bartolome de las Casas, who came to the Americas in the 16th century. Immediately he was struck by the inhumane ways in which the native peoples were treated by the European explorers and conquerors, Las Casas went on to be a leading opponent of slavery, torture, and genocide of the Native Americans by the Spanish colonists. A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies is his personal account, with chapters covering Cuba, Nicaragua, Hispaniola, Guatemala, Venezuela, Florida, and many other areas conquered by the Spaniards.

Public Domain (P)2019 BN Publishing

The destruction of a people

Perfect illustration of true history as it written on a fist account
Basis, just wow

Important Work--Needs Better Narration/Annotation

Las Casas' book, though the language/translation could be a little more accessible, did much to both document and improve the treatment of the tribal peoples conquered by the Spanish. It would be worthwhile having a little more context for the general reader, however. Las Casas' goal was to win souls for the Church, and alongside his genuine humanitarian disgust for what he saw and heard about the Indians' treatment, he seems at least as appalled by the failure to convert the Indians to Christianity. This, of course, reflects his genuine belief that the Catholic faith presented the only opportunity for them to enter heaven. Las Casas also fails to directly name many of the leaders he criticizes. While he provides dates and locations that would have easily allowed his contemporaries to know who he was talking about, this is harder for the modern reader/listener, since some place names (especially) have changed over the centuries. A little editing/annotation, providing explorers', officials', and locations' current names in parenthesis after they are mentioned, maybe an aside or footnote or two where needed, would go a long way toward making this work more accessible. While the narrator does the best job he can, there are many Spanish location names and even a few words of this English translation he still clearly had trouble with. Even so, this is very valuable to have in audio format.

A horrifying but Necessary Listen

why do we still celebrate Columbus' birthday? this book proves him to be a deplorable criminal

The events in the book

Overall great. Narrator is good. Just mispronounced words and stumbles sometimes. But overall he did a good job. The book is excellent

History written from who witnessed

The horror the horror the horror.
Before Congo and before captain Kurtz there was this