American Holocaust by David E Stannard (pdf)

American Holocaust by David E. Stannard (pdf)

In a work of impassioned scholarship, David E. Stannard describes in horrific detail the mass destruction of entire New World societies that followed in the wake of European contact with the Western Hemisphere-destruction that lasted for more than four centuries, and that continues in many places even today. In a sweeping introductory overview of the native cultures of the Americas as they existed prior to 1492, Stannard provides a vibrant context for understanding the human dimension of what was lost in that tragic firestorm of violence and introduced disease. He concludes with a searching examination of the religious and cultural roots of Euro-American racism and genocidal behavior.

"Vivid and relentless, combining a formidable array of primary sources with meticulous analysis-a devastating reassessment of the Conquest as nothing less than a holy war."
Kirkus Reviews

"The product of massive reading in the important sources .... Stannard's convincing claim is that what happened was the worst demographic disaster in the history of our species." The Boston Sunday Globe

"A devastating portrait of the death, disease, misery, and apocalyptic destruction experienced by American Indians during the centuries after 1492."
The Washington Post Book World

"Drawing on the latest demographic, geographical, and anthropological research ... [and] driven by a gruesome account of the ascetic Christian roots of genocidal racism, Stannard's is a terrifying, spirit-withering story."
The Chicago Sunday Tribune