William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859) was an American historian and Hispanist, who is widely recognized as the first American scientific historian. Prescott"s works on the Spanish Empire are considered classics in the field: The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (1837); The History of the Conquest of Mexico (1843); A History of the Conquest of Peru (1847); and the unfinished History of the Reign of Phillip II (1856-1858).