The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico [Paperback]

Miguel Leon-Portilla (Author), Lysander Kemp (Translator), J. Jorge Klor de Alva (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 080705500X | ISBN-13: 978-0807055007 | Publication Date: November 15, 2006 | Edition: Expanded and Updated Ed

For hundreds of years, the history of the conquest of Mexico and the defeat of the Aztecs has been told in the words of the Spanish victors. Miguel León-Portilla has long been at the forefront of expanding that history to include the voices of indigenous peoples. In this new and updated edition of his classic The Broken Spears, León-Portilla has included accounts from native Aztec descendants across the centuries. These texts bear witness to the extraordinary vitality of an oral tradition that preserves the viewpoints of the vanquished instead of the victors. León-Portilla's new Postscript reflects upon the critical importance of these unexpected historical accounts.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fascinating and moving native Aztec descriptions of Cortez's conquest of Mexico. First collected in 1962, now in a new expanded and updated edition.

Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

A moving and powerful account, a unique reading experience which should not be missed by any reader interested in history.—Los Angeles Times

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Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press; Expanded and Updated Ed edition (November 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080705500X
• ISBN-13: 978-0807055007
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > History > Europe > Portugal
  • #3 in Books > History > Europe > Spain
  • #5 in Books > History > Americas > Mexico

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Other Guys Story of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, March 11, 2009

By 

L. Stansbury - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico (Paperback)

I enjoyed reading the Aztec account of the colonization of Colonial Mexico. The book is a translation of Nahuatl writings. See- the Spanish provided an alphabet which the Aztecs did not have prior to Spanish arrival and then the Aztecs applied the alphabet to their native Nahuatl language and began writing. The only concern a reader should have is accuracy- the documents of the account were written 10 years and more after the fact. A tip when reading: start with Chapter 14 which summarizes all the events, then read Chapters 1 - 13 which elaborate on events in detail, and finally conclude with chapters 15 - 16. I highly recommend this book for anyone studying Colonial Mexico History or persons who want to know more about Aztecs and their culture.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Other Perspective of the Conquest, July 19, 2009

By 

D. Amos (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico (Paperback)

Miguel Leon-Portillo's collection of Nahua accounts of the Spanish conquest affords the reader a unique opportunity to experience the conquest through the mind of the Amerindian. The book records the human response of the Nahuatl speaking peoples of central Mexico to the strange and terrifying events that ultimately destroyed their city and their way of life. Through songs, pictures, and oral tradition, the plight of the people was preserved, and some of the more powerful and eloquent of these are represented in "The Broken Spears."

Do not expect an objective historical account of the conquest from this book. That is not the intention, as clearly stated by Leon-Portillo in his introduction. Rather, it is a glimpse into how the natives responded to and came to terms with events that were so strange and frightening to them that they bordered on the apocalyptic. What the reader gains, then, is an eloquent testimony to the passion and intellect of the native people of central Mexico who were so often, in many Spanish accounts, reduced to barbaric, blood-thirsty savages with little capacity for human sympathy.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Re: Doomsdayer520 - Bernal Diaz's integrity, December 4, 2007

By 

ekwop - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico (Paperback)

Not a review of this book.
Just to emphasized that no one who has read Bernal Diaz del Castillo's "Conquest of Mexico" would hold to any of the misconceptions noted in doomsdayer520's first paragraph. Bernal Diaz's famous memoir shows that he was honest and clear-eyed, and perpetually open to the humanity of the Aztecs and aware of, even the victim of, the venality of his countrymen.