Religion and Empire is an innovative and provocative study of the two largest states of the Precolumbian Americas; the Aztec and Inca Empires. By examining the causes of the formation and expansion of these two empires; the authors identify similar patterns and processes underlying their rise and decline. They demonstrate that in both examples among the critical elements in the transition from marginal people to imperial power to disintegrating society were changes in traditional religion; including the elaboration of Aztec human sacrifice and Inca worship of the corpses of their kings. The authors show that the complex interaction between such ideological shifts and political and economic factors generated the spectacular historical trajectories of these Pre-Colombian empires.
#1795669 in Books Cambridge University Press 2009-10-30Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.98 x .79 x 5.98l; 1.10 #File Name: 0521141923376 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. a brisk survey of a vast topicBy hmf22Klein and Luna's Slavery in Brazil is a dense; informative survey of recent historical scholarship on slavery in Brazil in 320 pages. It is divided into two parts; one a chronological survey of "The Political Economy of Slave Labor" and the other a less strictly chronological survey of themes in the social history of slavery. Inevitably; the text is dense and somewhat breathless; without many anecdotes or much direct human interest; Klein and Luna instead emphasize economic and demographic data and descriptions of laws and institutions. The social history section is slanted towards the 18th and especially the 19th century; there probably isn't enough information about earlier periods to treat them fully. Still; I got a lot out of the book. Two aspects of it that were particularly interesting to me were; first; its discussion of themes in Brazilian historiography (see; for example; pp. 115-118ff on how historians have gradually moved beyond picturing Brazilian society as a society composed solely of masters and slaves) and; second; the excellent final chapter on how freedmen and former slaveowners adjusted to emancipation. Klein and Luna compare aspects of Brazilian slavery to slavery in Spanish America and the United States occasionally throughout the text. A good overview of a huge subject.4 of 9 people found the following review helpful. too superficial to be of much useBy DiatonicThe book tries to cover too much to be very insightful about the topic. It is very general. As a rudimentary introduction it may be of some use; but for any real knowledge of Brazilian slavery one has to turn to more detailed studies.
