That's the bees knees and the cat's pajamas when it comes to the downfall of the Aztec Empire at the hands of Cortes' small band of conquistadores (plus a few thousand Tlascalans and other enemies of the Empire), a first-hand account from one of the conquistadores.
It's all in there: the pious, self-mutilating Aztec priests who practiced human sacrifice, the strange way the Mexicans did warfare and their reaction to muskets and horses, La Noche Triste and Alvarado's Leap, Moctezuma's death at the hands of his captors, Dona Marina, and of course, the deadliest part of it all, the decimation of the Mexican population by smallpox carried by the Europeans.
It's been called the most beautiful story ever told (no link, sorry) and it is. Beautiful, but also tragic, brutal, horrifying, bloody and full of senseless killing and pointless death and destruction.
You might want to read it if you enjoyed New Revelations...
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32474/32474-h/32474-h.htm
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32475/32475-h/32475-h.htm
That's the bees knees and the cat's pajamas when it comes to the downfall of the Aztec Empire at the hands of Cortes' small band of conquistadores (plus a few thousand Tlascalans and other enemies of the Empire), a first-hand account from one of the conquistadores.
It's all in there: the pious, self-mutilating Aztec priests who practiced human sacrifice, the strange way the Mexicans did warfare and their reaction to muskets and horses, La Noche Triste and Alvarado's Leap, Moctezuma's death at the hands of his captors, Dona Marina, and of course, the deadliest part of it all, the decimation of the Mexican population by smallpox carried by the Europeans.
It's been called the most beautiful story ever told (no link, sorry) and it is. Beautiful, but also tragic, brutal, horrifying, bloody and full of senseless killing and pointless death and destruction.
You might want to read it if you enjoyed New Revelations...