Genesis: Memory of Fire, Volume 1

Eduardo Galeano’s monumental three-volume retelling of the history of the New World begins with Genesis, a vast chain of legends sweeping from the birth of creation to the era of colonialism. From its first English-language publication in 1985, it has been recognized as a classic of political engagement, original research, and literary form.

Genesis is both a meditation on the clashes between the Old World and the New and, in the author's words, an attempt to "rescue the kidnapped memory of all America." It is a fierce, impassioned, and kaleidoscopic historical experience that takes us from the creation myths of the Makiritare Indians of the Yucatan to Columbus's brutal conquest in the New World to the English capture of New York.

Genesis is the first book of the Memory of Fire trilogy, which continues with Faces and Masks and Century of the Wind.

“An epic work of literary creation . . . There could be no greater vindication of the wonders of the lands and people of Latin America than Memory of Fire.” —The Washington Post