"A model of clarity and lightly worn erudition, and it contains the best and most straightforward description of the four Columbus voyages and their implications for the Amerindians I have seen. . . . Columbus had found large, permanent villages of Tainos Indians in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, each governed by a chief or cacique, and each containing an average of two thousand people. Rouse vividly describes their everyday life."—Kenneth Maxwell, New York Times Book Review
"[A] masterpiece of the cultural/historical approach . . . informative and accessible . . . Highly recommended for a general audience and anyone interested in the [Columbus] quincentenary."—William S. Dancey, Library Journal
"Rouse gives a vivid account of the origins, archaeology and history of these island people. . . . Building impressive 'ballcourts,' and worshiping deities called zemis, Taino culture bequeathed us many words and ideas that shaped European perceptions of the Americas. From them we derive our knowledge of cassava, pineapple, sweet potato and tobacco. This is a timely and comprehensive account of the first indigenous Americans to have greeted the European 'discoverers.'"—Nick Saunders, New Scientist
"A welcome addition to the literature on the Caribbean region, this book is clearly and authoritatively presented by the noted anthropologist and archaeologist Irving Rouse. . . . A detailed survey of the region's cultural developments, it will be useful to both the archaeologist studying pre-literate societies, and the historian or anthropologist tracing the development of indigenous peoples following contact with the Spanish. The substantial bibliography will also be helpful to researchers."—British Bulletin of Publications on Latin America and the Caribbean
"The Tainos is an historically important book. It is the culmination of half a century of research on a region whose archaeological complexity is compounded by the complexity of its political, social and linguistic diversity. . . . This book explicitly attempts to construct an understanding of the long history of those Native American populations which felt the first blows of European socio-economic expansion into the New World."—James A. Delle, Bulletin of the History of Archaeology
"The best and most complete book on the Tainos by a scholar who has studied their culture all over the Greater Antilles for half a century."—Ricardo E. Alegría
"We are fortunate indeed to have at last the authoritative and up-to-date account of the Taino Indians from the acknowledged dean of Taino scholars. And just in time so that we may remember them too during this Quincentennial year."—Kirkpatrick Sale
"In view of the quincentenary of the voyages of Columbus this is a timely book. It is also a significant one, for it is the first major revision of Caribbean archaeology in English since 1935. No other American archaeologist is better suited to write such an encompassing volume."—David R. Watters