Leading book review firms and U.S. and Dominican scholars praise Isabel, Anacaona & Columbus’s Demise: 1498–1502 Retold for its depiction of the beginning of Caribbean colonialism. Advance reviews include: “Deeply researched, devastating novel of the dawn of...

At last, I announce the sequel, releasing November 10 and now available for preorder at booksellers of your choice! A historical novel, Isabel, Anacaona & Columbus’s Demise: 1498–1502 Retold dramatizes from both Native and European perspectives the European...

I finish posting about my recent research trips to Spain and the Dominican Republic with photos of monuments commemorating two famous Spaniards who decried conquest tyranny and fought for the rights of Indians in the New World, Bartolomé de Las Casas and Antonio de...

When Queen Isabella initially decided to remove Columbus as “Española’s” governor, she also began licensing other explorers to possess the continental coastline that Columbus had found on the outward portion of his third voyage. Eight voyages to the northern coast of...

When Columbus arrived at the Caribbean in 1492, Chief Behecchio ruled Xaraguá, one of “Española’s” five principal chiefdoms. Located in the island’s southwest portion, Xaraguá was then admired for its large population and abundant crops and the civility of its daily...

As discussed in the prior post, gold was a key expectation driving Queen Isabella’s conquest of “Española.” That expectation waned and resurged during the period from 1493 to 1502, affecting the desire and willingness of her Spanish ministers, financiers, and subjects...

A key expectation driving Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand’s conquest of “Española” was that Columbus would find and ship its gold home to them, as he promised repeatedly from 1493 to 1500. In 1499, placer gold was finally discovered in quantity in the watershed of...

The next sequel will depict the brutal three-month war fought in 1498 in the chiefdom of Ciguayo on “Española’s” northern coast. Chief Guarionex had sought the protection of the Ciguayan Chief Mayobanex, and Mayobanex refused to surrender him when Columbus’s brother...

For Valentine’s Day, I post about the Taíno spirit of romance, sexual delight, and virility, Corocote, and some counterparts in other cultures. According to Fray Ramón Pané, Corocote sits on top of bohíos and comes down at night to lie with the women sleeping within....

On my recent trip to the Dominican Republic, I took a boat trip to Saona Island at the DR’s southeastern tip, the site of several events depicted in my books. The historic Taíno name for the island was Adamanay, and its local chieftains likely were vassal to the...