American historian. Born 1796, died 1859.
Prescott is considered one of the first American historians to use a scientific method, and his contributions within the study of the 16th century colonial history of the Americas was seminal.
Among his works are History of the Conquest of Mexico (1843) and History of the Conquest of Peru (1847). Prescott also carried out extensive basic research in the history of 16th century Spain, largely on the basis of hitherto-unpublished source material.