Rating: 
Summary: A must read for all!
Review: This book came into my hands as a result of a class project for graduate school. Because my family is American Indian, I was interested in the author's perspective and record of history. I was amazed at the detail that Stannard uses to describe history. This history that we do not read in history textbooks and it is a history that we do not hear in everyday conversation. Stannard expressed not only historical fact but an educated opinion about the history of and the resiliency of the indigenous people of the Americas. This is a must read for all. Not only those interested in history or American Indians but a must read for all Americans.
Rating:
Summary: A history of the distruction of Native American civilization
Review: This book is a great addition to the incomplete history taught in schools. It's purpose is simple and clear: The Holocaust of Native American civilization is must be told in order to understand that this countries mistreatment of its native poeples be known because it is the truth and because injustice will not stop until the myth that the native american peoples are an inferior race is destroyed. And the greatest theme is that all Genocides have one common strength that of the myth of superiority due to race. The book is well written and well documented. It is an eye opener to a true American History that the victors did not write.
Rating: 
Summary: (4.5 stars) An unknown American history of native holocaust
Review: This book is a real eye opener. It documents the policy, actions and atrocities that were commmited by the Spainish, english and other settlers of the Americas. The book shows how the natives after starting with friendly relations and cooperation with early settlers were in turn demonized, murdered and enslaved. Documentation from the letters of the founding fathers of the US and documents from spanish missions tell of plauges and systematic depopulation thru forced labor. As well scienticific evidence about deteration of diet and health of native americans. Like the Jewish holocaust this well document course of event is attached as incredible, yet the documentation and record used are hard to refute. The policies of Thomans Jefferson and Goerge Washington alone are worth reading about. The book also attachs the continuing demonization of native americans and the lies that the native american population was better off being intergrated into Europian culture and that its culture had no merit or accomplishment. Histroy often goes to the victors, but geneations later the hiden truth comes out. Anyone wanting to understand the history of america and its founding should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: America's Best Kept Secret
Review: This book is among the most absorbing, compelling, riveting, and painful, as well as emotionally distressing accounts of the invasion of the so-called 'New World' I have ever read. The contents have been painstakingly and remarkably well researched and while both graphic and explicit in recording the sheer, wanton torture and undiluted butchery meted out to Native American Indian People, on a scale that is difficult to comprehend, feel this content is entirely justified. This account rapidly dispenses with centuries of liberal romanticism, fallacy, myth and propaganda, regarding the invasion of the Americas by Europeans. Why Columbus continues to be feted as some kind of 'hero' beggars belief when, for the sheer scale of atrocities inflicted upon the Native populace, throughout the American Continent he should, in actual fact, be reviled and despised just as much as Adolf Hitler for the 'ultimate solution' against the Jews. Not only did Native People have to contend with overwhelming, mind-numbing atrocities but also the influx of European diseases to which they had no immunity and which decimated their numbers still further. The portrait of unadulterated death, disease, misery and apocalyptic devastation endured by American Indian Nations is inordinately difficult to imagine and can fully understand their motivations for consciously choosing not to conceive children, to spare them the horrors into which they would, undoubtedly, have been born. The greater amount I read, the more abhorred I became by the Christian roots of genocidal racism and extent to which Christian religious fervour and those in its, alleged, 'service' contributed, on a large-scale, to the overall intentional brutalities, slaughter and deliberate, wilful annihilation of Native People. What I feel is significant about this book is that it brings the situation up to date and addresses the issue of vehement Anti-Indian attitudes prevalent throughout America, today and this was more than amply illustrated when reading ''.throughout Central and South America Indian men and women and children have been murdered by agents of the government that controls them, simply because they were Indians; native girls and boys have been sold on open slave markets; whole families have died in forced labor, while others have starved to death in concentration camps. More will be enslaved and more will die in the same brutal ways that their ancestors did, tomorrow, and every day for the foreseeable future. The killers, meanwhile, will continue to receive aid and comfort and support from the United States government, the same government that oversees and encourages the ongoing dissolution of Native American families within its own political purview ' itself a violation of the U.N. Genocide Convention ' through its wilful refusal to deal adequately with life-destroying poverty, ill health, malnutrition, inadequate housing, and despair that is imposed upon most American Indian Nations who survive today'.' A recent national study highlighted that the highest percentage of U.S hate crimes (per population) is directed toward American Indian People and their Communities. Efforts to usurp Indian lands (or environmentally degrade them) abrogate Treaty Rights, erode Nationhood and Sovereignty, plunder burial sites, defile Sacred Sites and perpetuate stereotypical images of Native Peoples are not only continuing but also escalating to alarming levels. I, personally, feel it took a high degree of courage to write this tome and expose the deliberate genocide wilfully conducted against America's Indigenous populations which, insidiously and covertly (often overtly) continues today unabated and which is perpetrated by the Anti-Indian movement, its allies and U.S. government federal policy. This has been and continues to remain the heinous crime perpetually denied and lurking at the very heart of the United States of America. I thought the 'Epilogue' a particularly worthwhile contribution to this book as it highlights atrocities committed by U.S. troops in various theatres of war and that (for obvious reasons) have not been, previously, disclosed. In conclusion, I commend and wholeheartedly recommend this book to those individuals having a desire to learn more of the history and current issues confronting American Indian People but forewarn any potential purchasers that a strong stomach is required. I will not deny I took frequent breaks, myself, throughout the reading of this book because of the emotional distress I, personally, experienced and that is as a non-Native person! Finally, I would also recommend for further reading: 'The Earth Shall Weep' by James Wilson. 'In the Absence of the Sacred ' The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations' by Jerry Mander and 'Anti-Indianism in Modern America ' A Voice from Tatekaya's Earth' by Elizabeth Cook-Lynn. Although, independently, all worthy tomes in their own right, I make these recommendations as I feel they strongly complement the work undertaken by David E. Stannard. When combined they provide an all encompassing, comprehensive and overall 'dovetailed' documentary of the genocide historically and currently conducted against the Independent and Sovereign American Indian Nations ' 'The People' and Original Inhabitants of the American Continent.
Rating: 
Summary: Wild guesses are often inaccurate
Review: This book is among the most absorbing, compelling, riveting, and painful, as well as emotionally distressing accounts of the invasion of the so-called �New World� I have ever read. The contents have been painstakingly and remarkably well researched and while both graphic and explicit in recording the sheer, wanton torture and undiluted butchery meted out to Native American Indian People, on a scale that is difficult to comprehend, feel this content is entirely justified. This account rapidly dispenses with centuries of liberal romanticism, fallacy, myth and propaganda, regarding the invasion of the Americas by Europeans. Why Columbus continues to be feted as some kind of �hero� beggars belief when, for the sheer scale of atrocities inflicted upon the Native populace, throughout the American Continent he should, in actual fact, be reviled and despised just as much as Adolf Hitler for the �ultimate solution� against the Jews. Not only did Native People have to contend with overwhelming, mind-numbing atrocities but also the influx of European diseases to which they had no immunity and which decimated their numbers still further. The portrait of unadulterated death, disease, misery and apocalyptic devastation endured by American Indian Nations is inordinately difficult to imagine and can fully understand their motivations for consciously choosing not to conceive children, to spare them the horrors into which they would, undoubtedly, have been born. The greater amount I read, the more abhorred I became by the Christian roots of genocidal racism and extent to which Christian religious fervour and those in its, alleged, �service� contributed, on a large-scale, to the overall intentional brutalities, slaughter and deliberate, wilful annihilation of Native People. What I feel is significant about this book is that it brings the situation up to date and addresses the issue of vehement Anti-Indian attitudes prevalent throughout America, today and this was more than amply illustrated when reading ��.throughout Central and South America Indian men and women and children have been murdered by agents of the government that controls them, simply because they were Indians; native girls and boys have been sold on open slave markets; whole families have died in forced labor, while others have starved to death in concentration camps. More will be enslaved and more will die in the same brutal ways that their ancestors did, tomorrow, and every day for the foreseeable future. The killers, meanwhile, will continue to receive aid and comfort and support from the United States government, the same government that oversees and encourages the ongoing dissolution of Native American families within its own political purview � itself a violation of the U.N. Genocide Convention � through its wilful refusal to deal adequately with life-destroying poverty, ill health, malnutrition, inadequate housing, and despair that is imposed upon most American Indian Nations who survive today�.� A recent national study highlighted that the highest percentage of U.S hate crimes (per population) is directed toward American Indian People and their Communities. Efforts to usurp Indian lands (or environmentally degrade them) abrogate Treaty Rights, erode Nationhood and Sovereignty, plunder burial sites, defile Sacred Sites and perpetuate stereotypical images of Native Peoples are not only continuing but also escalating to alarming levels. I, personally, feel it took a high degree of courage to write this tome and expose the deliberate genocide wilfully conducted against America�s Indigenous populations which, insidiously and covertly (often overtly) continues today unabated and which is perpetrated by the Anti-Indian movement, its allies and U.S. government federal policy. This has been and continues to remain the heinous crime perpetually denied and lurking at the very heart of the United States of America. I thought the 'Epilogue' a particularly worthwhile contribution to this book as it highlights atrocities committed by U.S. troops in various theatres of war and that (for obvious reasons) have not been, previously, disclosed. In conclusion, I commend and wholeheartedly recommend this book to those individuals having a desire to learn more of the history and current issues confronting American Indian People but forewarn any potential purchasers that a strong stomach is required. I will not deny I took frequent breaks, myself, throughout the reading of this book because of the emotional distress I, personally, experienced and that is as a non-Native person! Finally, I would also recommend for further reading: �The Earth Shall Weep� by James Wilson. �In the Absence of the Sacred � The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations� by Jerry Mander and �Anti-Indianism in Modern America � A Voice from Tatekaya�s Earth� by Elizabeth Cook-Lynn. Although, independently, all worthy tomes in their own right, I make these recommendations as I feel they strongly complement the work undertaken by David E. Stannard. When combined they provide an all encompassing, comprehensive and overall �dovetailed� documentary of the genocide historically and currently conducted against the Independent and Sovereign American Indian Nations � �The People� and Original Inhabitants of the American Continent.
Rating:
Summary: Essential Reading
Review: This is one of those books that I find myself constantly coming back to and rereading. I can remember as a teenager reading Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" and having my whole world view shaken to the core. As emotional as Dee Brown's masterful account is, Stannard's is a much more methodical and relentlessly analytic overview of the "discovery" of the new world. Stannard not only chronicles the attrocities commited in the new world, but also delves into the very psyche of European culture and mindsets that fueled the wholesale slaughter and displacement of America's indigenous populations. Contrary to the opinion of the few negative reviewers here, this book is meticulously researched and accurately cited. Also be sure to check out Stannards essay in "Is the Holocaust Unique?: Perspectives on Comparative Genocide" for more info on downplaying that this genocide recieves.
Rating:
Summary: Eye-opening account of the OTHER Holocaust
Review: This was among the first books about Native American history that I read, and by far the one with the most profound effect. Stannard's thorough research and brilliant writing style make for a gripping work. His words bring to life the sickening cruelty of the Spaniards, British, and later, Americans against the original inhabitants of this continent. It is heartbreaking that in half of a millenium our world has learned no lessons from this gruesome history and still contains the capability for such destruction and genocide.
Rating:
Summary: Wild guesses are often inaccurate
Review: Though I obviously find it tragic that so many Indians died of disease, etc... in this time and that many blacks died from the slave trade, I find it morally reprehensible to exaggerate numbers of deaths by one or two orders of magnitude. Few serious scholars buy into these wild extrapolations.
Rating:
Summary: SGL from Florida
Review: To anyone who challenges the veracity of David Stannard's historical facts and accounts on the Spaniards pitiless cruelty toward the American Indians should also read DOGS OF THE CONQUEST by Author: JOHN GRIER VARNER. Regretfully the hardcover is out of print but can be checked out at your local library. Hopefully the publisher will reprint it in a paperback mode. It relates to Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards who brought to the new world a very large breed of mastiff dogs specifically trained to hunt, tear up, kill and feed from the Indians flesh ... men, women or children. For the Spaniards it was a simple (bloody) sport to entertain themselves, because they regarded the natives as sub-humans or animals. Where the Spaniards left off in their goal to exterminate the Indians, the Bristish and the American Colonists and forefathers took over as related in the "TRAIL OF TEARS" by Author: GLORIA JAHODA and in "BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE" by Author: DEE BROWN. I highly recommend American Holocust by David Stannard. It should be a required reading for all high school students. It's about time the truth be finally told about the quasi total extermination of a noble race.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful History Leson
Review: Wow, this is the history lesson I did not get in school. This author examines the European conquest of the American continents and the effect on the native peoples. When reading this book the first thing you notice is the author's compassion for the Native American's. He spends the first chapter talking about the rich diversity of Indian cultures in America. A part of American history that I did not have a complete view of from school. I was surprised at the vast numbers of different tribes and the advances in their societies. They were different from the Europeans, but that did not make their societies any less successful or important. The author does a good job here, but due to the subject matter of the book; it can only scratch the surface. A good follow up to this book would be a more detailed examination of the Indian cultures. The second section of the book focuses on the mass killing that took place by the Europeans. There is not a nice way to spin it; they killed millions of people through viruses, starvation and straight out killing. Each time I read a book about human atrocities it always amasses me that people can be so cruel and heartless. This section of the book is not for the weak, it is a straight forward and shocking explination of what the European's did to the native populations. Just so us Americans do not feel too superior, there is also a good amount of detail of what our military forces did and what the politicians were saying. To think that the leaders of the day that we so proudly hold up as beacons of our society held these views and facilitated or directed this genocide is really shocking. The last part of he book focuses on trying to explain how and why people can do these horrendous acts. The boils down to a basic that was scene more recently in World War 2 Germany and the war in the 90's in Yugoslavia. The leaders keep a constant flow of dogma going to the people that portrays the people that are having the genocide performed on them as less then human.
Overall this is powerful book that will keep you thinking for a long time to come. The writing is descriptive and well done.
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