War of Conquest
How It Was Waged Here in Mexico

Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble

Paper $16.95
ISBN 978-0-87480-192-7

How is it possible that in 1521 five - hundred Spanish soldiers defeated the most powerful military force in Middle America? The answer lies not in Western Firearms, as we have been taught, but rather in the differences between the Aztec and Spanish cultures. Differing concepts of warfare and diplomacy, reinforced by tensions and stresses within the Aztec political system and its supporting religious beliefs, allowed Cortés to systematically gain and hold the military and diplomatic advantages that gave the Spaniards the day, the war, and the continent.

“About twenty-five years after Cortés conquered Mexico, a Franciscan missionary interviewed Aztec survivors to compile this fascinating and affecting narrative. Fray Bernardino’s sources remember that terrifying omens appeared for ten years before the arrival of the Spaniards, in 1518 and 1519. Although the passage of a quarter of a century must have made these Aztecs familiar with men who had horses and firearms and armor, their memories reproduce their panic ad the first sight (and sound) of the phenomena. During the months that followed Cortés’ invasion, the Aztecs began to realize that the Spaniards were not gods, and that as men, they surprisingly preferred gold to the feathers and semiprecious stones the Indians valued more highly. The editors and translators have brilliantly put this antique tale into readable English while keeping a sense of its origins. The caution us, however, that this is the Aztec side, not an impartial account; to an impartial reader, both sides look like great fighters and appallingly brutal men. The contemporary illustrations are realistic and engaging.”—The New Yorker