The First America

"This is a much more traditional book by Britain’s leading intellectual historian of Spanish America – David Brading, who retired from Cambridge three or four years ago. It is a lifetime’s work. It is a pretty much comprehensive study of political thought, cultural thought and particularly theological thought in the Americas, with a concentration on Mexico and Peru. Brading is very unusual in that he has worked on both of the old indigenous Empire regions. He moves though the entire colonial period and indeed into the early Republican era: 1492-1867. If there was one single book about all the ideas of Spanish America throughout very nearly 400 years, this would be the one that I would recommend. What he looks at essentially is how both the colonial powers – and in this case we are talking almost exclusively of Spain rather than Portugal – and the indigenous societies sought to find, and how they mostly achieved, some form of hybrid compromise. Very often that involved subordinate conflicts and disputations. But at the same time, it involved use of the law by what we would call indigenous or Indian communities and bending of theological doctrine on the part of the Church. And there was certainly quite a high degree of pragmatism by the monarchy itself. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . So it really brings out the complexities of ruling a very large space of the world across an ocean. An ocean which no Spanish monarch ever crossed to visit in those 400 years and how in a way what we call now ‘Latin America’, which is a term that only dates from the 1830s, was to be part of a wider Hispanic global community. I think it is complex and contradictory and it has come under some pressure since Spain joined the European Union and then took on the role of primary bridge, if you like, after 1986 towards the Americas. “‘Latin America’, which is a term that only dates from the 1830s.” I think particularly as the larger states of the Americas such as Brazil and Mexico emerge now as countries either with their own substantial resources or with tight economic linkages to the USA they don’t feel they need that bridge or interlocutor. After all, Mexico owns the largest cement manufacturer in the United Kingdom. I think that post-imperial role has become more complex as time has gone on. Yes, Spain hasn’t been a democracy long enough or had a large and successful economy to justify many of the attitudes that it strikes!"