"Important contribution to the social history of the New Kingdom and Cartagena de Indias, in particular. Spanish efforts first to comprehend and then control, if not eliminate, indigenous and African forms of alleged magic, whether religious or medical, illustrated imperial imperatives of domination and cultural transformation of subject peoples. First half of book establishes definitions and structures within which confrontation of Spanish and non-Western belief systems clashed. Second half provides a series of illustrative case studies. A glossary and documentary appendices augment the text"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.