Old World Encounters; Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times Book

I think this book is best examined in comparison to what we know about so-called "New World Encounters." Bentley's framework here of three types of "social conversion": voluntary conversion; assimilation; and conversion in response to political, economic, and social pressure. While the vast majority of "New World Encounters" came about due to pressure, voluntary conversion and assimilation had a much bigger role to play prior to 1500. I thought this was an excellent framework and a useful read, and considering how short it was, I was impressed with the number of solid examples Bentley provided.

I hesitate to give it 5 stars because of its complete neglect of gender. I don't think that every historical study needs to focus on gender issues, but studies of social issues pretty much always need to look at gender. There is very little here about the role of women in the process of conversion.