“Although limited to a regional focus, the documents provide insight into Spanish colonial rule in general. The smooth translation enables nonspecialists to read the book easily.” — M. A. Burkholder , Choice
“Feldman provides us with a most useful brief preface that serves as historical introduction to the principal authors included in the anthology. . . . The significance of this anthology is manifold.” — Claudio M. Burgaleta S.J. , Sixteenth Century Journal
"Over the past two decades, independent scholar Lawrence H. Feldman has earned a reputation among scholars of colonial Guatemala as a master of its archives. There is almost no topic from the history of the region for which Feldman cannot produce a reference to some archival gem. . . . [A] fascinating collection that will be of interest to a broad spectrum of readers. . . . The preface is engagingly written . . . . [T]he notes are . . . helpful and well researched . . . . The book is nicely endowed with three maps and fifteen illustrations . . . . [A] useful resource for scholars and graduate students and an enjoyable read for a wide range of readers."
— Matthew Restall , The Historian
"This book provides the specialist information on the Manchu Chol previously unavailable in print and is therefore an important addition to the documentation on the Maya in translation." — Charlotte M. Gradie , Hispanic American Historical Review
“It is exciting to have a translation of these important early documents finally available. Feldman is widely regarded as one of the foremost scholars in Central American ethnohistoric studies. His grasp of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish and paleography is superior, his translations are accurate and faithful to the documents while being understandable to the nonspecialist, and the amount of cultural, geographic, and economic information contained in these documents is amazing.” — Karen Olsen Bruhns, San Francisco State University
“This is totally new, very important material. Specialists in the field will be very pleased to see it in print—Feldman has been known to have been burrowing in the archives for a long time now, and this is spectacular fruit.” — Norman Hammond, Boston University