Hugh Thomas
1 An amazing story powerfully told
I can't praise this book enough. The story of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico through Cortez is unbelievably compelling. Even so, Mr. Thomas writes brilliantly and tells this story better than I have ever seen, read, or heard it done. He brings life to all of the characters along the way including those that came before Cortez, those that he met and made allies along the way, those he turned into enemies, and especially Montezuma. The final battle for Tenochtitlan is frightening and heartbreaking.
This is history that reads like fiction. The world of Mexico before the Conquistadors is so foreign to the Western mind that it reads almost like fiction or fantasy. Yet it all happened, and Mr. Thomas tells it with power and passion. This is a book you owe it to yourself to read. Just amazing and wonderful.
2 An astonishing story told in fascinating detail
...
This still is the best book in English on the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Far more than most historians, Thomas explores the interconnections among the leading personalities, both Spanish and Mexican, giving the reader a feeling for the noble and the devious aspects of these sixteenth century people. Politics and the exercise of power emerge as major themes. The author brings out the contingency of history through his analysis of key events that might have gone another way. There was nothing inevitable about Cortes' ultimate success; if he had not been so clever and ruthless, he might have ended up as a human sacrifice in an Aztec temple. As it was, more than half of the conquistadors died, a casualty rate that no modern army would tolerate. The six hundred page text is supplemented by useful appendices. This book would be even better if it were more fully illustrated.
3 Fascinating
A wonderful account of one of the most intriguing events in history. Mr. Thomas presents Cortes and Montezuma as real people, of their time in history, without any of the white devil versus noble savage bull. Yes, it is very detailed, with exhaustive references, but very much worth the effort. Educate yourself. Read this book. Thank you.
4 A long but very satisfying book
So it has hundred of pages. A quarter of it is just notes and stuff. And it is the tale of the barbaric take over of a people that still unjustly pays the price today. And the book does not hide the misery. Depressing in advance. Get over it and read this truly excellent history book. To say that it reads just like an epic novel would be pushing it, but be assured that it is written as close to a tale it can get and once you get into it, even knowing the end will not stop you from going on and on. Certainly new material on the epic of the conquest of Mexico will come up, new archeological evidence perhaps, a brand new codex even? But as you read this book you will know that this is pretty much the definitive book. Well arranged, informative if not good looking maps, complete, it is also an excellent reference book. In addition it makes you think beyond the what-if usual questions that one does consider when reading such a book. You think about all the myths that are created about historical events, even today. You think at how division can ruin even the mightiest empires. And how often might is illusion. You think at all the misery that was brought to a country. And best of all you just cannot but be amazed, again, at how the fate of civilizations eventually rests in the hands of so few people, here of Cortes, a couple of followers, Montezuma, a couple of followers and a few of his own unhappy vassals. Sometimes when we read the paper in the morning we wonder if things really have changed that much......
5 Exhaustive book
This book was very informative, though a bit too long and a bit tedious at times. However, there was little I gained from it after reading Bernal Diaz' 16th Century account of the conquest of Mexico, the latter of which I read first. What new information I did acquire was useful (the explanation of Aztec battle tactics and why they failed against the Spaniards, the telling of what happened in the years after Tenochtitlan fell) but I wish I didn't have to read 500 pages to get it.
I would say this makes a fine book for those who aren't bored by long, scholarly readings (ie details, details, details) and I guess it would be an absolute "must" for those obsessed with the time period of the Spanish Conquistadors.
6 A True Masterwork
Hugh Thomas forever banishes to the trash heap of history the notion that the native peoples of America simply rolled over and succumbed to the onslaught of sickness and Spanish swords. The final fight for Tenochtitlan looks less like the last gasp of a stone-age empire, than a dark portent of the cruelties of Stalingrad. Thomas, at complete odds with most his contemporaries in academia, presents a refreshingly balanced picture of two empires in confrontation. Heroes and villains appear among both Spaniards and Mexica, but Thomas avoids the temptation to beat one or the other over the head in the kind of revisionist name-calling into which most academic historians dealing with native America have devolved. Thomas's history of Cortez and Montezuma is fine stuff indeed, and is a rich and brilliant example to all--specialists, generalists, and lay readers alike--of what good history writing looks like.
7 Real life stories better than any fiction....
We have been taught that the middle age Europeans where so "advanced" that they easily won over all Native American. Nothing farther from the true, not with the Mexica.
Thomas narrates in a spell bounding fashion, the clash of two Empires: One in decadence (Spain) and other in expansion (Mexica). It goes from Spain's buroecratic court environment to the religiously directed growth of the Mexicas, without losing any reader in the process.
Futhermore, he explains that, contrary to the common complot theory, the Spaniard incursions where mostly private (companies) in great efforts to make money for themselves.
Ultimately Thomas answers the fascinating question: How a couple hundred Spaniard could win over millions of advanced Mexicas warriors? Definitely Herman Cortes story is fascinating.
If you want a lidership book nothing better than this epic story. Dave Cortes
8 Impressive description of another era
This would be worth a look simply because Thomas does what all good historians should: sink their readers deeply into past ages and former cultures by way of a fascinating story.
But even better . . .
Recent histories of the Spanish Conquest tend to emphasize the atrocities of the conquistadors while upholding the virtues of the indigenous peoples. While well-intentioned (and a needed corrective to chronicles written in the previous 100 years), the approach has an annoying tendency to demonize Europeans, turn the natives into statuary and drain all the drama from the past.
So I'm grateful for Hugh Thomas and his neo-revisionist history. The Spaniards are ultimately the heavies, but presented with all their complexities and ambitions on display (who knew Hernan Cortes could be so interesting?). They aren't completely malevolent.
Similarly, Thomas avoids the Howard Zinn/PC trap of turning America into Eden and Indians into children by detailing the delicate intertwining of politics and religion in the Mexican (aka Aztec) empire, by displaying the cruelty the Mexica could occasionally summon toward their subjects and by placing it all in the proper cultural context -- as with the Spaniards, you understand why they did what they did, even if you don't approve of it.
Wrap an exquisite narrative thread around the whole package and you've got a book for the ages.
9 Superb!
I bought Conquest as a reference book for such an interesting period in time, hoping to read a chapter here and then. What I didn't expect was to find such a well written account and such a fascinanting story. Nothing in fiction could possibly compare to this historical account. Buy this book and expect to hooked by it.
10 WORTHY UPDATE OF PRESCOTT'S CLASSIC
This book is a history of the Spanish conquest of the Mexica (Aztec)people during the first decades of the sixteenth century. Although Thomas' writing style is that of the typical historian, the story is nothing short of spellbinding. Thomas presents a balanced account of one of the greatest adventure stories in human history. The central character is Hernan Cortez, one of the most complex, brilliant and cruel men who ever walked the planet. Thomas also manages to provide a balanced account of Cortez' counterpart, Montezuma, and his religious, political and economic culture. If Steven Spielberg or someone of equal talent were to make a movie of this story it would certainly be one of the greatest motion pictures of all time. Dense but spellbinding. My hat is off to Thomas for a job well done. Hightly recommended reading
11 More than a non-scholar would want to know.
If you can plow through this book (or side step the minute details as I did) you will certainly be well informed about this fascinating period in Mexico's history.
12 Very good
I heartily enjoyed and highly recommend this book. As someone else suggested, one should also read the 1st person account of Bernal Diaz, maybe before or maybe after this book. After reading this book, I looked for other works by Hugh Thomas, and found his book on Cuba. Now that was a monster, rather difficult to read, but very good history written to the very high academic and intellectual standards of Britain (just like this book on Cortes).
13 Like Tenochtitlan,Thomas has delivered a historic monolith.
'Like a song you were born Montezuma , like a flower you came to bloom on the earth' so echo the words of an ancient Nauhatl poem .In Hugh Thomas 'The Conquest of Mexico' here is a book that finally delivers the true insight in to the lives and actions that unfolded five hundred years ago.Thomas skillfully weaves his characters in to a unfolding plot.We are transported to the life of the ancient Mexica in there demi-paradise island of Tenochtitlan , there we learn about the origins and there quest to serve there dietys Huitzipochtli and Tezcatlipoca with the offerings of songs and blood.Their world lived in total isolation until the early part of the sixteenth century , when by chance the doorway that Columbus had opened was to allow oppourtunist Spanish conquistadors route to explore the rich frontiers of the New world.Such men like Heran Cortes who as 'A man born in Brocade' lived to fulfil his destiny and sail to the land of the west in search of his fortune.Thomas gives us the background of Cortes troubled upbringing and his cunning eye for oppourtunity , it was such invention that enabled this remarkable captain to dupe the governor of Cuba Diego Velasquez to let him sail and once arrived with his men dissolve his orders to settle the land not under the governors name , but to conquer under Don Carlos and God.On route he picked up valuable people to aid him on his quest, the captive Geronimo de Aguilar who had lived with the Maya and the native interpretress 'Mallinalli' who was to be called 'La Malinche'.Cortes etched his way ever so slowly towards the city of MontezumaII ,he convinced the waring adversaries of the great empire the Tlaxcalans to join him.In Tenochtitlan the fragile lord had forseen great unrest and ruin a year back when his priests had claimed to have seen the 'The floating trees'with bearded men on board.It was such doom that Thomas evokes so splendidly and when the Spanish fianlly arrive at the magnificent causeways , one believes the Mexica empire is already heading for a ! cataclysmic end.The Spanish stayed for a year and a half on and off, they commited violations against there host, the crazed Pedro de Alvarado commited the worst crime and from that point on the Castillians had no choice but to fight for thier lives.So it was when Montezuma who had perished the then heir-apparent Cuauhtemoc stood before the Caudillo and asked him to end his life, so ended the harmony that once was. It is with eurdition and poignacy that Thomas moves us like a Mexican libation to there gods with his account of the conquest. Perhaps the finest account to date on this subject.
14 A must-read book!
"Conquest" is a in-depth examination of the Spanish intrusion into what is now Mexico. The book reveals many interesting differences
between the Spanish and Aztec cultures.
For example, the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice to appease their gods. The usual ritual involved a high priest cutting open the victim's chest and ripping his or her heart out while other assitants held the victim down.
When Cortez discovered this grisly practice he was abhorred. In any event Cortez introduced (and at times imposed) Christianity to the Mexica.
Read this book!
15 An incredibly researched and thorough history.
Conquest is the absolutely complete story of the yielding of one great empire to another. British historian Hugh Thomas has assembled an awe inspiring account of the backgrounds of Hernan Cortˇs, and his counterpart, the Emperor of the Mexica (Mesheeca, the author does not refer to them as Aztec, preferring to use the named they had for themselves) Montezuma II. Thomas painstakingly details events that led up to the confrontation between the two. He maps the Spanish invasion and manipulation of New Spain and Mexico. He adeptly details the political climate of Spain, and of her conquered territories of Hispaniola, and Cuba. With texture and substance, this extraordinary time is shown in the context in which it was meant to be presented. The search for gold played a tremendous role in the conquest of Mexico, and Thomas does not shy away from exploring the insatiable appetite the Conquistadors had for this precious metal. This desire baffled the Mexicans, for they only recognized the ritualistic and artistic value of gold. Human sacrifice is an element that played a large part in the Castilians' revulsion towards the Mexicans. This practice dehumanized the Mexicans in the eyes of the Castilians. The author does not shrink from a discussion of this practice, either. In short, Conquest is an in depth, incredibly researched and thorough undertaking that will remain as the definitive work of this event. I recommend it for any history buff, or anyone who is curious as to why Latin America and especially Mexico are the way they are today.
16 Interesting, but slow-going. Good supplement to Bernal Diaz
This book is a good supplement to Bernal-Diaz's book, "Conquest of New Spain". It combines the sparse records of the Aztec point-of-view concerning the conquest. This is a good book for those who wish to know the complete story of the conquest of Mexico.
17 Superb history
This is without doubt the finest English history of the conquest of Mˇxico published in this century or perhaps at any time. This book, almost encyclopedic in depth, is still far more interesting (and better researched) than Prescott, who will be remembered as the man who coined the term "Aztec" in his similar history published a century ago.
18 A fascinating account of an astonishing event.
Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of history cannot but be astounded by the 16th century conquest by Hernan Cortez of the Aztec Empire or, as Thomas prefers, the "Mexica:" a comparitive handful of adventurers, thousands of miles from home and almost completely bereft of tactical or logistical support, subjugated utterly a society considered, at least by its citizens and vassals, as
unconquerable. Readers of Thomas' book are already likely to be familiar with Diaz' "Conquest of New Spain" and, perhaps, with Landa's "Relacion." Drawing on these, and hundreds of other primary and
secondary sources, emanating from both sides of the conflict, Thomas transforms himself into
the proverbial "fly on the wall" to produce an amazing chronical of the destruction, virtually overnight, of the Mexica. In so doing, Thomas examines the personalities, and motivations, of the dramatis personae, among them the audacious Cortez; Pedro Alvarado, Cortez' lieutenant, whose, precipitous actions while Cortez was absent from the Mexican capital brought about the wholesale warfare that culminated in the destruction of an exotic civilization virtually without parallel in world history; Diego Velazquez, governor of Cuba and intractable enemy of Cortez; Montezuma II, enigmatic emperor of the Mexica, whose mercurial relationship with his conquerors has puzzled scholars from the time of the Conquest until the present day; and the Emperor Charles, largely ignorant of, or indifferent to, the spectacular accomplishments of his Spanish subjects in the New World. Thomas' chronicle convinces us that, considered simply as a military leader, Cortez compares favorably, in the context of his time, with Caesar, Alexander, Miltiades, and Salah al-Din. More important than military prowess, however, was Cortez' personal charisma and oratorical skill. It was these that enabled him to gain the allegience of other indigenous Indian populations who hated, yet feared, the Mexica. The practical benefit of these alliances was twofold, viz, Cortez' Indian allies became indispensible soldiers and laborers and their allegience eliminated the possiblity of a "two front" war," which Cortez, because of his limited resources, simply could not afford to wage. Cortez' considerable personal charisma also enabled him to quell nascent rebellions among his own men and to win the confidence, and support, of other conquistodores, sent by his enemies to arrest him. Thomas' work is also noteworthy for its deliberate objectivity: the Spanish are not summarily excoriated as villians, nor the Mexica portrayed as helpless victims. The Mexica , as they well knew, were a complex and sophisticated society, very far from the "noble savages" of Rousseau. In the end, of course, the Mexica fell to the conquistodores. No matter what may be said about the technological superiority of the Europeans (after all, it is argued, the Spanish had the horse, gunpowder, and steel weapons), or about the devastating effect of Old World diseases on the native populations of Mexico, the birth, and ultimate death, of the Mexica sprang from the same wellspring: a rigid, highly structured social order bound to inflexible traditions. Cortez perceived this, exploited it to his advantage, and changed history. [ BUY ITEMS NOW | VIEW YOUR SHOPPING BASKET ]
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