A tale of horrendous genocide and the heroic efforts of Bartolom de Las Casas to stop it As Kinneavy narrates the Las Casas story and the barbaric colonial enterprise of New World Spain, he enters a dark time in history when greed ruled the day. Las Casas, the first priest of the New World and ultimately the defender of the native people, struggles with his own part in that exploitation. It is that spiritual journey of conscience that is the focus of the novel.