How the Spanish Empire was Built - a 400-Year History (Fernandez-Armesto and Lucena Giraldo, 2024)

(309 pages)

Pretty quick read; not as interesting as I expected.  Something it helped me think about - the incredible distances spanned by the "empire" - also the lack of local skilled workers or many components essential to building anything - just didn't exist in the New World. A real challenge to get anything done. 

Also interesting - we have spent a fair amount of time in areas of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Mexico that were part of the build-out effort - helps appreciate what was attempted, some of the challenges, etc.

I was reading "Two Years Before the Mast" on Kindle at the same time as reading this book, and it was quite interesting hearing the historians describe California areas and travel by ship while reading an account from early/mid 18th century. 

Here's Google Gemini's 150-word summary:

"The Spanish Empire, despite Spain's initial status as a relatively poor and disunited kingdom, grew into the largest realm the world had ever seen, spanning four continents for centuries. Beginning with Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage, Spain's drive for wealth and Catholicism led to the conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires and vast expansion across the Americas, financed by American gold and silver.

This history highlights the crucial role of "engineers"—including soldiers, priests, and master craftsmen—who built the infrastructure of roads, ports, fortifications, and missions that managed communications and sustained the overstretched global monarchy. The empire was characterized by a complex mix of oppression and collaboration, with investments in infrastructure benefiting both the Spanish crown and local elites, ultimately shaping the cultural, social, and economic realities of the modern world."

Lamy of Santa Fe (Paul Horgan, 1975)

(354 pages) 

(Amazon sent me some sort of special edition - high school yearbook size - printed a few years back by the Southwest Indian Foundation (whatever that is).  This permitted the photos to be much larger and of course way more compelling than normal.)

This book is a delight.

Willa Cather of course used Lamy's life as the source material for "Death Comes to the Archbishop," a book I very much enjoy (and occasionally re-read).  This actual biography might even be better.  I first read it in the 1990s (before keeping notes on stuff I read). Horgan won a Pulitzer for this.  It's remarkable how much the novel tracks the history.

PJ and I visited this area in the 1990s and can't wait to go back.  Historically unique, geographically blessed.

Lamy as the first archbishop in Santa Fe - appointed shortly after New Mexico is acquired via conquest from Mexico.  It's 1851 when Lamy arrives in Santa Fe - relatively "modern" in so many parts of the US - yet Santa Fe as so backward in those days.  Long isolated even from its former bishop way down in Durango; much more Mexican than American, but distinct from both.

The scenes prior to reaching New Mexico are compelling.  Lamy (with lifelong companion Machebeuf) in France.  Working in "forest parishes" in Ohio - mid-19th century yet primitive in many ways.  His passage down the Mississippi enroute to Santa Fe - slaves.

Gives a feel for the challenges of travel - to Santa Fe - but even moreso as he goes to Mexico, back to Europe, and through his huge diocese.   

The state of the local clergy upon his arrival - so few, so unsupervised - Cather not exaggerating those stories.

I'd guess this kind of book is out of fashion these days - centered around US imperialism, white conquest, etc. - not sure - I'd also wager that it remains highly useful as a way of learning about, thinking about the Southwest.  

Highly recommended.