An engaging historical account

The story was entertaining and thorough. It is what I wish history class would have been in high school.

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Stunning

My bad. I had no idea this slice of history ever happened. I bought this book to prepare for a visit to Mexico City - wow! I am blown away. A mesmerizing account of the fall of the Aztec empire. Can’t help but wonder how different the history of the Americas would be today if the Spaniards had lost.

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blew me away, beautiful

such an interesting point in history, amazing book, you won't be disappointed ,thank you you

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Highly recommended

An action focused highly detailed recount of the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs. The narrator brought a fair bit of energy which I enjoyed, even throwing on a comical gruff Spanish accent when quoting Cortez.

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extremely detailed

as a person that lived in Tabasco and in the Yucatan for a while I appreciate the detail of this story. a true gem

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silly accent - good story.

A good historical account....not sure why narrator needs to be an actor and use a Spanish accent for quotes. Very Mickey Mouse.

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Great history & great historical writing

The conquest of Mexico, 1519-21, by the Spaniards, is one of the most seminal and fascinating events in history resulting in the destruction of a rich, mighty yet flawed civilization that took hundreds of years to build and advance; but only two years to destroy, brick by brick. The author, with near 500 years of evidence and scholarship, has captured the fantastic details of the story in a style that reads like a great historical novel, only this narrative yarn is true. The historical outcome of 1521 was not inevitable in a military or political sense. A similar conquest or subjugation likely would have occurred much, much later. But the success, for Spain and the Mexica’s enemies belong to the military and political genius of Cortes, an adventurer with modest previous experience in actual soldiery. Well aware that the victors write history, the author objectively assesses Cortes’ conquest as one of the great achievements in historical infamy. The author, properly captures the magnitude of the ‘butcher’s bill.’ As a conqueror Cortes’s political and military skills did in 2-3 years what it took Caesar nearly 8 years and Alexander 11 years. The author captures the controlled fanaticism, informed by a sincere zealous religious piety of the greatest conquistador. How quickly he recovered from disasters caused by bad decisions. How he maintained the loyalty and affection of his troops; the respect and confidence of his often unreliable Meso allies (after he slaughtered some of them originally) who’s manpower and logistical support were indispensable, overlooked and uncredited, for Cortes’ success. Cortes led an allied invasion against the Mexica’s. The privations, indescribable hardships, endured by Cortes and his men, and allies, that only intensified personal greed to win gold and glory for God and Spain; always, obsequiously, setting aside Emperor Charles V’s 20% take, off the top, every treasure count time. A must read, a must listen to work.

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Book Ruined by Illiterate Reader.

Who doesn't know the difference between the words route (pronounced root - the route taken to get from A to B) and rout (the displacement of one army over another).

It was very annoying to constantly hear passages read something like this: "Cortes's army took this rout in order to rout the Aztecs."

I gave up in the end.

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1 person found this helpful