Editors and contributors
Preface to Latin American history and culture
Acknowledgments
Introduction to Encyclopedia of pre-colonial Latin America (prehistory to 1550s)
Latin America before 1492: a brief overview
The Atlantic world in the Age of Conquest, 1492-1560: a brief overview
The Spanish Atlantic in the Age of Conquest
The Portuguese seaborne empire
Time line (prehistory to 1560)
Entries A-Z
Documents: "The primordial world," Popol Vuh (excerpt); "Chalcacihuacuicatl" ("Chalca Woman's Song"); Capitulations of Santa Fe; Capitulations of Granada; Requerimiento; Third Letter to King Charles I (excerpt); Contract between Pedro Fernández de Lugo and the Spanish Crown; Nahua account of the Tóxcatl Massacre, Florentine Codex (excerpt); Nahua account of the Noche Triste, Florentine Codex (excerpt); Nahua account of the smallpox epidemic, Florentine Codex (excerpt); Istoria de la conquista de México (excerpt); Crónica del Perú (excerpt); Letter to King Philip II of Spain; The true history of the conquest of Mexico (excerpt); History of how the Spaniards arrived in Peru (excerpt); History of a voyage to the land of Brazil (excerpt)
Glossary
Suggested readings.