. . . very well translated . . . Cardenal merits praise for presenting, on such an ambitious scale, a passionate alternative history of the Spanish encounter with Central America. Booklist
Combining hsitory with poetry, Cardenal exposes the violence, treachery, injustice, and exploitation that are so much a part of [Central America and Mexico's] past and present. World Literature Today
Explore this dense, beautiful poem and you will be rewarded with riches that 'delight and hurt not'. Nicaragua Update
. . . a remarkable text. . . . El estrecho dudoso is a masterful and compelling poetic account of early colonial Central America, and the translation is likewise masterful. Colonial Latin American Historical Review
In this book-length poem, Nicaraguan priest and revolutionary Ernesto Cardenal tells the story of the Spanish conquest of Central America from the discovery of the American continent to recent historical events. A remarkable achievement and an engrossing narrative, the poem is published here in both Spanish and English.
US
A book-length poem that has been described as the best history of Central America and Nicaragua ever written.
ERNESTO CARDENAL is a poet, priest, and revolutionary. His works include Cosmic Canticle, Zero Hour and Other Documentary Poems, In Cuba, and Los Ovnis de Oro / Golden UFOs. JOHN LYONS has translated Cardenal's Cosmic Canticles and is the author of a study of Cardenal. TAMARA R. WILLIAMS is Associate Professor of Spanish at Hamilton College.
INTRODUCTION
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE ON PUNCTUATION
El estrecho dudoso
The Doubtful Strait
GLOSSARY