Review by Choice Review
Horn examines Coyoacan, a small pre-Conquest regional state (altepetl) southwest of Mexico City, from the Spanish Conquest to the mid-17th century. She argues convincingly that both institutional and informal interaction of natives (Nahuas) and Spaniards shaped colonial native society. Part 1 considers the formal political and economic relations under four headings: the post-Conquest altepetl; Nahua municipal government; Spanish provincial authorities; and tribute and labor. Part 2 focuses on the informal landholding and market settings in four chapters: Nahua households and land; Nahua land transfer; Spanish estates; and the market economy. The implications of demographic decline until the mid-17th century pervade much of the discussion. Horn's regional study confirms other recent conclusions concerning post-Conquest native society in Mexico, but it also documents an important emphasis on Nahua-Spanish interaction in informal arenas. Thus Horn's work is another valuable contribution of the Lockhart school (see James Lockhart's The Nahua after the Cotiquest, CH, Mar'93 ), which draws heavily on documentation written in Nahuatl. Although the text is generally clearly written, nonspecialists will lament the absence of a glossary. Upper-division undergraduates and above. M. A. Burkholder; University of Missouri--St. Louis
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
