The book is the translation by Dr. Thomas of a Czech work which was published in 1954. It consists of three parts: 1. Frantisek Gel: The Book, The Time, The Man, pp. 5-76. 2. Las Casas: A very short account of the devastation and depopulation of the Indian territories, pp. 79-258. 3. Dr. J. Plojhar: Epilogue, pp. 261-271. There follows one (!) page of sources, a table of contents, and a map.
Gel, who according to the publisher’s note offers us a “scholarly biography,” is content with sketching the life of Las Casas from a single biographical source, namely Marcel Brion, B.de las Casas, Paris, 1927. While the other sources quoted have no importance whatever for the biography, the three short works of Las Casas given under “sources” are dealt with in Brion’s book. Brion himself is rather panegyrical and dispenses with scientific evidence.
The Brevísima Relación is not translated from the original Spanish, but from the Latin translation of Heidelberg, 1664. Peculiar forms of place names, like Perusien for Peru, Venecuela, Granata etc. are retained. There follows then, without any clear separation from the Brevísima Relación, the anonymous letter about Quito reproduced by Las Casas and an excerpt from the tract “Entre los remedios,” published also in 1552 (v. Obras, V, Madrid, 1958, p. 69n).
The purpose of the publication is explained in the epilogue by Dr. Plojhar, the priest Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs of Czechoslovakia, under the title, “The peace-maker Las Casas, his time and his work.” And he does this in true communist style: Modern conditions are the inevitable result of the suppression and exploitation of peoples in the colonial era. There is no essential difference between the conquistadors and the mercenary armies of the imperialists. Plojhar proudly boasts that “with all our strength and enthusiasm we have helped to form this new, beautiful world and its new, wonderful generation.” At the same time he completely overlooks the fact that the “unconquerable Soviet Union,” when it alleges to liberate peoples and bring them happiness, subjects them to a new state control and servitude that far surpasses the horror of the Conquista.
