The Hispanic influence on American history is an area that needs more narrative coverage unfortunately this does not meet the goal. It is essentially unreadable because it lacks coherence, is intolerably verbose, and becomes mired in trivial details. ( )

This book presents the history of the United States from an Hispanic viewpoint, not the traditional version that starts with Jamestown and Plymouth Rock, proceeds through manifest destiny, and ends up with a democratic superpower where a white majority opts in various grateful minorities. Instead, "Our America" starts with Spanish explorers and empire builders, who founded settlements long the British arrived in Virginia or New England. The author shows how wide-ranging was Spanish exploration in what is now the United States. Then, the book discusses the conflicts between the Spanish and various native American groups -- and provides more information on these groups than I have ever seen in a standard history of the U.S. And then we get to the triumph of the Anglos, from Florida through Texas to the Mexican American War. The rest of the story is about the Hispanic experience over the last 150 years, which mingles setbacks and progress.

Overall, the shift in perspective is fascinating, and illuminating. Given the rapid growth of the Hispanic population in the US, it is also very relevant. History is necessarily selective, and the process of selection means that some things have to be left out, and some emphasized. The choices about what to leave out and what to emphasize add up to a story, the story we tell ourselves about our own past, where we come from, and what matters to us. This sort of shift in perspective produces a different story, and considering several stories gives a much richer sense of our own past and our current circumstances.

I could wish that the first part of the book, about exploration, was a bit shorter, and I could wish that the writing were at times a bit sharper. Because of that, I cut the rating to 4.5 stars, but it is still well worth reading. ( )

While this book will evoke much resonance for its contemporaneity, its good sense, it is an historical provocation of the first order; it is the wealth of historical detail which appeals to this reader. For instance, when the Jesuits were expelled from Spanish lands in 1767, "The Baja was virtually a Jesuit republic. The expulsion...deprived the monarchy of its most determined frontiersmen"(112). The ways in which accommodation were reached between brothers and indios are multiple; for instance, while the brothers were strict enough on sexaul matters, locking up Indian girls, they were more indulgent on indifferent traditions like dancing and traditional healing" (115). The towns around the missions grew little in the late 18C, partly because of the indios' desire for their former hunting life, partly because farming brought better diet, fattening and sickening. (Hmm.. Is that an historical or a 21st C point?)
And the internecine struggles between secular administrators and the monasteries provide fruitful accounts of human individualities and differences. For instance, it must have proven difficult to impress Fray Jose Maria Zalvidea, who "constantly flogged himself, wore hairshirt, and drove nails into his feet." Others had spasms of drunkenness and lunacy, perhaps indistinguishable.
Meanwhile, some administrators threatened to take away the mission lands (which they had by royal grant) and authority, including their right to confirm baptized indios. Seems like England's Henry VIII was not alone in considering the acquisition of institutions built by the enticements and amalgamations of the religious. ( )