Stolen Continent CL

Wright ( Time Among the Maya ) here presents a ``New World'' history, told from the perceived perspective of natives and lambasting the conquering whites, going back to Columbus: Cortes, de Soto, Pizarro, for example, are seen as crass, cruel, greedy invaders. To illustrate what he views as an epic wrong, the author probes five tragic encounters--with Aztec, Maya, Inca, Cherokee and Iroquois cultures. Using materials recorded as contemporaneously as possible, from the Incas to Cherokee principal chief Wilma Mankiller, the book follows a trail of treachery, blood and futility. Had the white race's diseases not wreaked havoc on the natives, writes the author, the ``conquest'' may have ended differently. While his scholarship proves marvelous, Wright's disjointed account is not likely to hold the reader's attention. (Feb.)