- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; New Ed edition (5 July 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0006530974
- ISBN-13: 978-0006530978
- Product Dimensions: 24.6 x 18.5 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,606,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Synopsis
This enthralling study which examines the impact of the Spaniards upon the Aztec and Inca worlds, is dominated by the personalities involved, in particular Cortes and Montezuma. Their confronation in the Aztec lake-city of Tenochtitlan is a moving drama of human conflict revealing the dilemma and the enigma of the Indians. It is a story of battles and voyages, full of strange episodes - Cortes burning his ships, Pizarro drawing a line with his sword, saying "Gentlemen, this line represents toil, hunger, thirst, weariness, sickness" and daring them to cross it, and Atahualpa nursing his wound in the hot springs of Cajamarca and watching, with his army, the tiny band of Spanish adventurers descending the green slopes of the Andes.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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3 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
A solid account
27 Aug 2003
Format:Hardcover
I came across this book at a friend's house and after leafing through it I could not put it down. Few periods in history are as fascinating as the conquest of the new world by the Spanish. The courage, cunning,lust for gold and sheer audacity of these men is really quite incredible. Innes is a good storyteller and his questioning of the details and the first person accounts are excellent. The only problem with this book is that it is 30 years old. There has been much in the way of study in the last 3 decades on the subject expanding our viewpoints. That being said, Innes' account of the conquest is a must read for the history buff!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Cunning, Lust and Greed
11 Dec 2010
How did a small bands of Spanish conquistadors defeat the numerically vastly superior Amerind forces in the Aztec empire and the Inca empire? Innes offers a carefully documented, highly readable explanation of the very different characters of Cortes and Pizarro. It's a fascinating read.
Cortes was an educated minor nobleman, whose letters back to Spanish King Charles offer one source for Innes. Cortes defeated the Aztecs by allying himself with unhappy neighbors, and considerable canny political intrigue. When the Aztec leader Monteczuma was killed and Cortes driven out of what is modern-day Mexico City, Cortes promptly fought his way back to power. Cortes may have been brutal, but there is something there to admire in his tactics, if not his world view.
Pizarro, by contrast, was an uneducated, illiterate thug, who lucked into an Incan civil war and was able to seize the person of the Incan emperor Atahualpa, by betrayal. He accepted Atahualpa's offer to ransom himself for the famous room full of gold, but betrayed Atahualpa again and had him executed. I was unable to find a single promise that Pizarro made and actually kept.
My only criticism of Innes' excellent effort is that he is just a shade too apologetic for the Conquistadore mentality. He is at pains to establish its roots in the end of the Spanish effort to defeat the Moors. But unbridled greed is still unbridled greed, and the picture that Innes paints is incredible.
If you want to understand Latin and South America today, I think you must read this book.
Cortes was an educated minor nobleman, whose letters back to Spanish King Charles offer one source for Innes. Cortes defeated the Aztecs by allying himself with unhappy neighbors, and considerable canny political intrigue. When the Aztec leader Monteczuma was killed and Cortes driven out of what is modern-day Mexico City, Cortes promptly fought his way back to power. Cortes may have been brutal, but there is something there to admire in his tactics, if not his world view.
Pizarro, by contrast, was an uneducated, illiterate thug, who lucked into an Incan civil war and was able to seize the person of the Incan emperor Atahualpa, by betrayal. He accepted Atahualpa's offer to ransom himself for the famous room full of gold, but betrayed Atahualpa again and had him executed. I was unable to find a single promise that Pizarro made and actually kept.
My only criticism of Innes' excellent effort is that he is just a shade too apologetic for the Conquistadore mentality. He is at pains to establish its roots in the end of the Spanish effort to defeat the Moors. But unbridled greed is still unbridled greed, and the picture that Innes paints is incredible.
If you want to understand Latin and South America today, I think you must read this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Very informative
30 May 2009
A very good book. It moves along fast and gives you a solid overview of the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs by Cortes and the Incas by Pizarro without getting into too much detail. It gives background on the culture and daily life of the Aztecs and Incas and provides an interesting retracing of the routes taken by the conquistadors. The story of the Incan conquest is particularly interesting.
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