A Troubled Marriage - (Diálogos) by Sean F McEnroe (Paperback)

About the Book

A Troubled Marriage describes the lives of native leaders whose resilience and creativity allowed them to survive and prosper in the traumatic era of European conquest and colonial rule.

Book Synopsis

A Troubled Marriage describes the lives of native leaders whose resilience and creativity allowed them to survive and prosper in the traumatic era of European conquest and colonial rule. They served as soldiers, scholars, artists, artisans, and missionaries within early transatlantic empires and later nation-states. These Indian and mestizo men and women wove together cultures, shaping the new traditions and institutions of the colonial Americas. In a comparative study that spans more than three centuries and much of the Western Hemisphere, McEnroe challenges common assumptions about the relationships among victors, vanquished, and their shared progeny.

Review Quotes

"A well-argued, highly readable account. . . . Highly recommended."--R. M. Delson, Choice

"Combining archival sources from three continents with a huge body of scholarship, Sean McEnroe explores boundary crossing throughout the vast early Americas. While mindful of power, he introduces us to dozens of fascinating people who transgressed categories, hierarchies, and identities across the hemisphere. Sweeping in scope yet grounded in the details of individual lives, A Troubled Marriage deserves a wide readership."--Brian DeLay, author of War of a Thousand Deserts: Indian Raids and the U.S.-Mexican War

"Engaging and readable. . . . [The book] offers a good introduction to an unusually diverse range of colonial structures, legalities, and events; is accessibly written; resists traditional national silos; and problematizes issues, such as 'independence, ' that are often taken for granted in scholarship."--Caroline Dodds Pennock, H-LatAm

"McEnroe offers a captivating narrative in A Troubled Marriage, one filled with enchanting descriptions of physical landscapes and engaging biographical tellings."--Jason Dyck, Canadian Journal of History

"McEnroe's is an arresting voice. Attentive to the perspectives and ingenuities of all kinds of people, to the energy of their meaningful stories and places, and with a hemispheric vision and cross-imperial implications (that are rarely faced), A Troubled Marriage offers a meditation upon the dynamic intercultures at the heart of the emerging Americas."--Kenneth Mills, author of Idolatry and Its Enemies: Colonial Andean Religion and Extirpation, 1640-1750