The Virgin, the King, and the Royal Slaves of El Cobre: Negotiating Freedom in Colonial Cuba, 1670-1780 (Cultural Sitings)
"This is an outstanding, highly original piece of work that should appeal to a very wide audience, given the great variety of themes the author discusses: slavery, freedom, legality, status, gender roles, authority, marginality, religion, social structure, colonial society, Cuban history, Caribbean history, and early Spanish colonial history."—Franklin W. Knight, Johns Hopkins University"This fascinating book treats issues of broad, interdisciplinary significance in original and stimulating ways, lending historical depth and concreteness to problems that are often pursued too abstractly. This is the best sort of history, one that will have an impact on the historical study of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as on the fields of anthropology and cultural studies."—Ana María Alonso, University of Arizona"This is an excellent example of just how sophisticated scholarship on early Cuban history has become. . . . The book looks at a host of subjects: eastern Cuba (too often neglected by scholars); religious history through the emergence of the shrine of Our Lady of Charity; rural economic activity in a non-sugar-producing area; and the institution of Spanish slavery.  Díaz's book will be a reference point for future studies in all these areas. . . . Professional historians will appreciate how Díaz extracts social and narrative history from a variety of disjointed and fragmentary materials. . . .The Virgin, the King, and the Royal Slaves of El Cobreprovides its readers with surprises and puzzles at almost every turn."—History: Reviews of New Books"This outstanding history of colonial El Cobre during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries explores the ways that royal slaves negotiated their condition, and the way that popular religion, focused on Our Lady of Charity, underwrote their efforts." —&lt;"María Elena Díaz'sThe Virgin, the King and the Royal Slaves of El Cobreexamines a fascinating and little known episode of Cuban and Afro-Latin American history...In the process of telling this remarkable story, Díaz offers rich asides on the