The Meaning of Columbus Day - Prescott's Legacy

Prescott's vision of the Conquest has had incalculable influence on both historians and the general public throughout the world. His books have been popular in Europe, North America, and Latin America since they were published. They can be found in virtually every library of any size in the United States and purchased off the shelves at Borders and Barnes & Noble. He is cited as a major influence by later historians, including Hugh Thomas, whose massive Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés, and the Fall of Old Mexico (1993) pays tribute to the man he dubs "the great Bostonian." Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Barbara Tuchman used Prescott as her primary source for a short description of the Conquest of Mexico in her last book, The March of Folly (1984). Even The Rough Guide to Mexico (2007 edition) cites Prescott for its brief... [read full story]