Resource Guide: 'You Dreamed of Empires' by Álvaro Enrigue

On November 6, 2025 the Folger’s virtual book club returns with a discussion of You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue. To prepare for the discussion, we have pulled together a list of resources related to Spanish colonialism, early modern America, and Shakespeare.

LEARN about “new world” discoveries and exploration

• Consuming the New World
• A Cacique By Any Other Name
• The turkey’s journey from the Atlantic to the early modern Islamic world
• Horchata and I share a heritage
• The Americas Gaze upon Europe, 1492-1800
• “More strange than true”: Finding America among the fairies
  • By November book club speaker Victoria M. Muñoz

EXPLORE related exhibitions and collection items

• Spanish Book Collection at the Folger
• Mapping Early Modern Worlds
• Select items from New World of Wonders

CONSIDER Shakespeare’s place in contemporary Latinx culture

• Shakespeare Unlimited Episode 176: Shakespeare in Latinx Communities, with José Cruz González and David Lozano
• Shakespeare Unlimited Episode 178: Bringing Latinx Voices to Shakespeare, with Cynthia Santos DeCure and Micha Espinosa
• An Ofrenda to Shakespeare’s Afterlives

REVISIT Book Club picks related to exploration and colonization

• The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami
• Beheld by TaraShea Nesbit
• The East Indian by Brinda Charry