Winner,AmericanLibraryAssociationBooklist’sTopoftheList,2019AdultNonfictionAcclaimedwriterMarieAranadeliversaculturalhistoryofLatinAmericaandthethreedrivingforcesthathaveshapedthecharacteroftheregion:exploitation(silver),violence(sword),andreligion(stone).“Meticulouslyresearched,[this]book’sgreateststrengthsarethepowerofitsepicnarrative,thebeautyofitsprose,anditsrichportrayalsofcharacter...Marvelous“(TheWashingtonPost).LeonorGonzaleslivesinatinycommunityperched18,000feetabovesealevelintheAndeancordilleraofPeru,thehighesthumanhabitationonearth.Likeherlatehusband,sheworksthegoldminesmuchastheIndianswereforcedtodoatthetimeoftheSpanishConquest.Illiteracy,malnutrition,anddiseasereignastheydidfivehundredyearsago.Andnow,justasthen,aminer’ssurvivaldependsonavastglobalmarketwhosefluctuationsarecontrolledinfarawayplaces.CarlosBuergosisaCubanwhofoughtinthecivilwarinAngolaandnowlivesinaquietcommunityoutsideNewOrleans.HewasamonghundredsofcriminalsCubaexpelledtotheUSin1980.HisstoryechoestheviolencethathascoursedthroughtheAmericassincebeforeColumbustothecrushingsavageryoftheSpanishConquest,andfrom19th-and20th-centurywarsandrevolutionstothemilitarycrackdownsthatconvulseLatinAmericatothisday.XavierAlb籀isaJesuitpriestfromBarcelonawhoemigratedtoBolivia,whereheworksamongtheindigenouspeople.HeconsidershimselfanIndianinheadandheartand,forthis,iswellknowninhisadoptedcountry.Althoughhisaimistolearnratherthanproselytize,heisaninheritorofacheckeredpast,wherepriestsmarchedalongsideconquistadors,convertingthenativestoChristianity,oftenforcibly,intheefforttowintheNewWorld.Eversince,theCatholicChurchhasplayedacentralroleinthepoliticallifeofLatinAmerica--sometimesforgood,sometimesnot.Inthis“timelyandexcellentvolume“(NPR)MarieAranaseamlesslyweavesthesestorieswiththehistoryofthepastmillenniumtoexplainthreeenduringthemesthathavedefinedLatinAmericasincepre-Columbiantimes:theforeigngreedforitsmineralriches,aningrainedpropensitytoviolence,andtheabidingpowerofreligion.Silver,Sword,andStonecombines“learnedhistoricalanalysiswithin-depthreportingandpoliticalcommentary...[and]aninformedandauthoritativevoice,onethatdeservesawideaudience“(TheNewYorkTimesBookReview).
