Captain From Castile -- by Samuel Shellabarger

Sometimes a lot of well-used and well-edited words make words harder to come by, and this is one of those occasions.

Author Samuel Shellabarger's masterful work on this fast gallop of a great read makes me feel sorry for anyone who didn't look up the publication year here of 1945 when the world was still at war. People were tired of all the bloodshed, oppression, mass murders, heavy bombing deaths, and ideologies like Nazism, which turned many stomachs when the world learned of the death camps. I think Shellabarger might've been thinking of those camps when he addressed the Inquisition. There were many things very much in peoples' minds and eyesight. Death was, and has been around for years, and Captain From Castile did not shy away. I usually read the publication dates because they can, and often influence an author's approach to their book. Empathy is always important.

The conquest of the Aztecs was equally bloody, and was not short of bloodshed. The Aztec ritual sacrificing of prisoners and cannibalism, after cutting their hearts out was not ignored, but some research says it was likely less massive and systematic than in these pages, but part of daily life in pre-Colombian times, nevertheless.

1945 was hardly 2023, and an intelligent reader should know that there are serious differences socially, and in other senses. I read it for various reasons, including my need to read top-level content, and it delivered very nicely. Shellabarger connected all of the paragraphs, words, and sentences superbly. It was easy to keep on reading past chapter breaks until falling asleep with the light still on. Only a few rare word choices slowed that fast gallop for an instant.

It had all the elements, evil villains, romance, drama, history, and heroes. I can easily recommend it, if you can find a copy. I got one through my most consistent supplier with the original cover still clinging to the book, despite some very weak spots in the creases.