History of the Conquest of Peru

[An opinion]
*Perhaps the most severe unfavourable criticisms of the [...] Conquest of Peru are based upon Prescott’s romantic version of native civilizations, which later findings in archaeology and anthropology have found to be distorted. Prescott’s failure to visit the historical settings of his narratives and to examine actual remains of the native cultures he described was partly responsible for this defect in his books. Yet modern scholars have concluded that Prescott’s historical narrative, based upon Spanish chronicles, is essentially sound. What Prescott hoped to do with his histories was to instruct and to entertain. His history was narrative and descriptive rather than philosophical or analytical. His colourful prose dealt with conquests, war, diplomacy and politics - not with cultural, social or economic themes. In his Spanish histories his concern was almost exclusively with the Spanish courtiers and other aristocrats.*