Matthew Restall (born 1964) is a historian and author of over forty books. His work focuses on six areas of specialization: 1) the Spanish Conquest era in the Americas; 2) Aztec and Maya history; 3) the history of colonial Mesoamerica, primarily Yucatan but including Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize; 4) the historical African diaspora in the Americas; 5) the history of Christopher Columbus and what he calls Columbiana; and 6) the history of popular music. As a prominent ethnohistorian, he is a member of the New Philology school of colonial Mexican history and the founder of a related school, the New Conquest History. He is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Latin American History and Anthropology, and Director of Latin American Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. He is a former president of the American Society for Ethnohistory (2017-18), a former editor of the Ethnohistory journal (2007-17) and of the Hispanic American Historical Review (2017-22), and editor of the book series Latin American Originals, and co-editor of the Cambridge Latin American Studies book series.
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