Strangers Within

Francisco Bethencourt is the Charles Boxer Professor of History at King’s College London. He is the author of Racisms: From the Crusades to the Twentieth Century (Princeton) and The Inquisition: A Global History, 1478–1834.

"Strangers Within is a substantial contribution to the history of minoritized communities and racialized thought in the early modern period, which invites further engagement with vital questions about why and how ethnic categories emerge, and with what consequences."---Claire Gilbert, American Historical Review --- "Strangers Within is an eclectic and ambitious book that enriches the reader with a great deal of novel information and many challenging interpretations, while leaving the impression that it is inherently difficult to address a single narrative of such an overlapping and overflowing phenomenon. This sense of insurmountability, which is also the result of the author’s intellectual honesty, enables us to see Bethencourt’s book as an open work in progress. In my opinion, this tour de force is a blessing for readers, scholars, and the future of the subject."---Claude B. Stuczynski, Journal of Jesuit Studies --- "For its lucidity, sophistication, tremendous reach, and judiciousness, Strangers Within will remain an important milestone in the historiography of the early modern and modern Iberian Peninsula, as of Iberia’s far-flung diasporas."---David L. Graizbord, Journal of Social History --- "An extraordinary achievement."---Gretchen Starr-LeBeau, Journal of Church and State --- "A tremendously thorough study. . . . Highly recommended." --- "The depth and breadth of research underpinning this book is impressive. He has written what will become the standard reference work on the history of the New Christians, and because of the breadth of the scholarship, it also makes a significant contribution to global history."---Linda A. Newson, Journal of World History --- "Abosrbing. . . . Intensely detailed and researched."---Hallie Cantor, Association of Jewish Libraries --- "Evocative. . . .Bethencourt’s portrait of New Christians is ambitious and panoramic. It is a major addition to the historiography of the Inquisition and the Sephardim which successfully re-interprets the political economy of the early-modern Iberian kingdoms. Penetrating discussions of New Christians’ involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the colonisation of India ensure that this book will be of interest to historians of race and empire beyond the Iberian worlds."---Isaiah Silvers, The Historian --- "An expansive look at one of the most influential and enigmatic communities of the early modern world. . . . Strangers Within is a major contribution to early modern history that will no doubt remain a landmark study of its subject for years to come."---Jonathan Ray, The Catholic Historical Review --- "It is a book to which people cannot remain indifferent. He voices strong views on his sources and current literature on Early Modern Jewish, Sephardic and New Christian communities worldwide, and challenges entrenched ideas, particularly in Iberian scholarship, about the New Christians and their place in society. Scholars will be talking about this book for the years to come, and heated debate will ensue, I am confident, for the general betterment of scholarship in this and related subjects."---Cátia Antunes, Ler Historia --- "What​ distinguishes Strangers Within from other accounts is its scale. Bethencourt pursues his subjects across the globe, drawing on original archival material from Belgium, Britain, Italy and Peru, as well as Spain and Portugal. Even more impressively, he tracks the conversos over four centuries, from the late Middle Ages to the Enlightenment."---Alexander Bevilacqua, London Review of Books --- "[A] richly researched work on a huge subject: the world of the “New Christians” (converted Iberian Jews), and their widely scattered financial and mercantile diaspora, from the fifteenth century to the eighteenth."---Noel Malcolm, Times Literary Supplement