The arrival of Europeans in the Americas brought with it a demographic catastrophe of vast proportions for the native populations. In this book Livi Bacci argues that the catastrophe was not the inevitable outcome of contact with Europeans but was a function of both the methods of the conquest and t...

The arrival of Europeans in the Americas brought with it a demographic catastrophe of vast proportions for the native populations. In this book Livi Bacci argues that the catastrophe was not the inevitable outcome of contact with Europeans but was a function of both the methods of the conquest and the characteristics of the subjugated societies.