Remarkable products of a nation deeply implicated in the Atlantic slave trade, the seventeenth-century Spanish plays Juan Latino, The Brave Black Soldier, and Virtues Overcome Appearances appear together in English for the first time in this volume. The protagonists not only defy the period’s color-based prejudices but smash through its ultimate social barrier: marriage into the white nobility. Michael Kidd’s fluid translations and extensive critical introduction, bibliography, and glossary are enhanced by Hackett’s title support webpage. Black Protagonists of Early Modern Spain is essential reading for students of theater history, Spanish literature, and the African diaspora.

"An extraordinary, eye-opening read." 

—Lee Jacobus, Professor Emeritus of English, U. of Connecticut