Literary history at its best, 13 Dec 2001

The character and personalities of all the various players come to the fore, and Thomas also does an excellent job of conveying the atmosphere of those times, as well as in adding little details like the weather and the scenery to give a real sense of what those terrible years were like.

In short, this is just a brilliant book - balanced, authoritative, erudite, and surprisingly moving - if you have any interest in Mexico you should read it. It is probably the best work of history that I have read.

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Excellent. Detailed yet readable. Dispels the myths., 1 Jul 1999

Although a little slow in the first two chapters, which Thomas uses to set out the background of the Spaniards in Cuba & Hispaniola, this is a brilliant account of the conquest of the Aztecs by Hernan Cortes. Thomas' research is complete and he does an excellent job of explaining how so few subjugated so many. Thomas makes a great job of weeding out the chaff from the other accounts you might be familiar with.

Rich with relevant context (politics back in Spain, the economics of the Carribean, legal issues to do with the classification of the native indians) this account is probably the best ever written. It makes an excellent story, even though the approach is thorough and absolutely non-fictional.

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