The Spanish conquest of Mexico was the most remarkable military expedition in history, and in achieving it, Hernan Cortes proved himself as one of the greatest generals of all time. This book explains the background of the Aztec Empire and of the Spanish presence in Mexico. It describes the lives of the Aztecs in their glittering capital and of the Europeans who learned to adapt and survive in an alien and often dangerous world. The invasion was a war between civilizations, pitting the fatalism and obsessive ritual of the Aztecs against soldiers fighting for riches, their lives, and eventually their souls.

The Spanish conquest of Mexico was the most remarkable military expedition in history, and in achieving it, Hernan Cortes proved himself as one of the greatest generals of all time. This book explains the background of the Aztec Empire and of the Spanish presence in Mexico. It describes the lives of the Aztecs in their glittering capital and of the Europeans who learned to adapt and survive in an alien and often dangerous world. The invasion was a war between civilizations, pitting the fatalism and obsessive ritual of the Aztecs against soldiers fighting for riches, their lives, and eventually their souls.

"The Spanish conquest of Mexico was the most remarkable military expedition in history, and in achieving it, Hernan Cortes proved himself as one of the greatest generals of all time. This book explains the background of the Aztec Empire and of the Spanish presence in Mexico. It describes the lives of the Aztecs in their glittering capital and of the Europeans who learned to adapt and survive in an alien and often dangerous world. The invasion was a war between civilizations, pitting the fatalism and obsessive ritual of the Aztecs against soldiers fighting for riches, their lives, and eventually their souls."--Bloomsbury Publishing

Can the conquest of one city change the world? In 1519, two powerful empires - Spain and Mexica (Aztec) - were hungry for expansion in central Mexico. Led by emperor Motecuzoma II, the Mexica people had subdued their native enemies and now controlled a sprawling territory with the great city of Tenochtitlán at the center. Then the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés led an attack on the Mexica empire. Although the Spaniards had horses and guns, both unknown in the Americas, the Mexica outnumbered them five hundred to one. The Spaniards had no chance of success without the help of native allies unhappy with Mexica rule. What followed was a desperate war that lasted two years, cost thousands of lives, and left Tenochtitlán in ruins. In 1521 Cortés declared Mexico a colony of New Spain. In so doing, he laid the groundwork for the expansion of European power throughout the Americas and changed the world forever. The Spanish conquest of Mexico is one of world history’s pivotal moments.

The Spanish conquest of Mexico was a remarkable military expedition that had a huge impact on the history of the world. Hernán Cortés led the expedition, the aim of which was the addition of Mexico to the Spanish Empire, and the extraction of Aztec riches. Following the appearance of portents, the Aztecs were expecting a catastrophe in 1519, and the Spanish invasion fulfilled this expectation. Although they fought fiercely to the end, the Aztec civilisation was doomed, and the face of Mexico would be changed for ever. This book examines the campaign, but also the lives, training and experience of the men on both sides: the Spanish conquerors and their opponents, the exotic Aztecs, who were fighting for their lives and their civilisation. Contains material peviously published in Essential Histories 60, Warrior 32 and Warrior 40.

A dramatic rethinking of the encounter between Montezuma and Hernando Cortés that completely overturns what we know about the Spanish conquest of the Americas On November 8, 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés first met Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, at the entrance to the capital city of Tenochtitlan. This introduction—the prelude to the Spanish seizure of Mexico City and to European colonization of the mainland of the Americas—has long been the symbol of Cortés’s bold and brilliant military genius. Montezuma, on the other hand, is remembered as a coward who gave away a vast empire and touched off a wave of colonial invasions across the hemisphere. But is this really what happened? In a departure from traditional tellings, When Montezuma Met Cortés uses “the Meeting”—as Restall dubs their first encounter—as the entry point into a comprehensive reevaluation of both Cortés and Montezuma. Drawing on rare primary sources and overlooked accounts by conquistadors and Aztecs alike, Restall explores Cortés’s and Montezuma’s posthumous reputations, their achievements and failures, and the worlds in which they lived—leading, step by step, to a dramatic inversion of the old story. As Restall takes us through this sweeping, revisionist account of a pivotal moment in modern civilization, he calls into question our view of the history of the Americas, and, indeed, of history itself.

In 1519, the Conquistador Hernán Cortés landed on the mainland of the Americas. His quest to serve God, win gold, and achieve glory drove him into the heartland of what is now Mexico, where no European had ever set foot before. He marched towards to the majestic city of Tenochtitlan, floating like a jewel in the midst of Lake Texcoco. This encounter brought together cultures that had hitherto evolved in complete isolation from each other – Catholic Spain and the Aztec Empire. What ensued was the swift escalation from a clash of civilizations to a war of the worlds. At the conclusion of the Conquistador campaign of 1519–21, Tenochtitlan lay in ruins, the last Aztec Emperor was in chains, and Spanish authority over the native peoples had been definitively asserted. With the colourful personalities – Cortés, Malinche, Pedro Alvarez, Cuitláhuac, Cuauhtémoc – driving the narrative, and the vivid differences in uniforms, weapons, and fighting styles between the rival armies (displayed using stunning specially commissioned artwork), this is the fascinating story of the collapse of the Aztec Empire.