This comprehensive narrative history of Guatemala, the cultural and political heart of colonial Central America, focuses on the three centuries from the arrival of the conquistador Pedro de Alvarado in 1524 to the modern nation's declaration of independence in 1821. Distinguished historian Oakah L.

Jones, Jr., examines both chronologically and topically the geography and the indigenous people of the region; Spain's conquest and initial colonization from 1524 to about 1540; government and administration under the Habsburgs and the Bourbons; the Roman Catholic Church; Spanish-Indian relations and labor practices; land, towns, and the economy; the colonial society and culture; and the effects of such natural disasters as earthquakes and of Spain's defenses of the colony and Kingdom of Guatemala.

The author's research both in primary documents located in Spain, Guatemala, and the United States and in published monographs in Spanish and English makes this general history useful both to scholars and to general readers, who will also value its chronology of major events and glossary of terms.

Because Guatemala's role was pivotal within the Kingdom of Guatemala (which included present-day Chiapas, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica), this history is an excellent introduction to the effects of Spanish rule in Central America. Guatemala in the colonial period was a dynamic political entity, and Spain left important, enduring legacies in today's modern republic.