Customer Reviews

Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico

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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.

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.

...

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.

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

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 Cortés, 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.

Ask a friend or an average person this:"Regarding empires of the past, what countries come to your mind?" His most likely answer would be Rome,Greece,Egypt,China or Persia. He may or may not go further to include Turkey(Ottoman),Mongolia, Japan or Britain. Ask him where the Pyramid of the Sun (which is in Mexico) is and his reply would probably be Egypt or somewhere there. Yet how many AVERAGE person would give an answer of the Aztec Empire in Mexico or Inca Empire in Peru? None to not many,I'll bet.

Yet these empires created by North and South American Indians, completely isolated from the Western and Eastern worlds,were discovered in their magnificent splendor beyond the wildest imagination of the first Europeans(the Spanish)who witnessed them! HughThomas'"CONQUEST" describes in detail those feelings of the Spanish Conquistadors when they entered Tenochtitlan,the Aztec capital,an incredible city beyond their imagination of any city in Spain or Europe that they had ever seen. In fact,many of the Conquistadors and accompanying friars themselves were wondering if they were dreaming,as recorded in their diaries,
chronicles, letters to Spain and their documentss called codices!

Hugh Thomas did a splendid job in his exhaustively researched
"CONQUEST", written like a fantasy trip to the unkown yet so remarkable in the authenticity and undisputability of its existence in America. The reader of the book will share with both conquerors and conquered their feelings,their hardships,
their sorrow,fears of the unknown,blood curdling human sacrifices,their battles,victories and defeats,death and destinies.Made more incredible by the FACT of how a "handful" of Spaniards(300 to 400)led by Hernan Cortes strategically managed to conquer a million or more fierce Aztec warriors ruled by the Aztec Emperor Montezuma.These events were recorded by the Spanish conquistadors corroborated by records(codices) of the Aztec Indians themselves.
What is Hollywood and Steven Spielberg waiting for? Are we not too saturated with movies of the Roman Empire,Greece,Troy,Alexander the Great, Egypt,etc? Why not let the AVERAGE American,North and South,be more aware of the existence of fantastic huge empires in their own continent (the NEW WORLD)? C'mon Spielberg and Hollywood! The conquest of Mexico, and even that of Peru,would be fabulous colorful,and not to say the least, DRAMATIC blockbusters! In the meantime, we can just read Hugh Thomas' outstanding book,"CONQUEST".

This outstanding book, which gives a detailed description of the
amazing story of Hernan Cortes' conquest of the Mexica (Aztec) Empire
with a few hundred men, along with some horses and cannons, forces
us to look realistically at the encounter between the Europeans and
the Indian cultures of the New World. Thomas avoids political-correctness
by pointing out that the Aztecs had an aggressive, imperialistic political
system that was resented by their neighbors whom they oppressed. He also points out that the effect of disease, although certainly horrific, were
not of the scale recent studies have claimed. Although they were bad enough, Europe itself experienced major depopulations such as that due to the Black
Plague in the 14th century or the Thirty Years War in Germany in the 17th, and yet there was a recovery and civilization continued. Thus, this by itself, can not explain the complete upheavals the Indian population suffered in the hundred years following the European arrival.
Reading this book brought me to the conclusion that the Indian civilization that existed could not continue, even if the encounter with the Europeans had been less intrusive or brutal. Even if the Europeans had totally pacific intentions, satsifying themselves with localized
settlement and trade, and had not forcibly conquered the existing Indian
cultures, those cultures still would have been irrevocably changed.
For example, the introduction of new plants and animals from Europe would
have changed the ecology of the New World and disrupted the existing
agricultural patterns of the Indians (e.g. pigs who escaped from the European settlements on the island of Hispaniola ruined the agricultural
plots of the local indians). We know that the taming of wild horses by the Plains Indians in the US radically changed their culture and made their wars against their White AND Indian neighbors more efficient. There is no way the existing religious cult system based on idol worship
and human sacrifices could have continued to exist for very long, just as slavery would have ended in the Confederacy within 20 years even if the South had won the Civil War...the outside world would just not have tolerated such practices and no doubt internal pressures would have also occurred as Indians became exposed to the message of Christianity.
In addition, even without the military force of the Europeans, the encounter between the Europeans and Indians would have exposed the Indians to the European's diseases ravaging the Indians, although as I stated above, it is unclear how much effect this would have had by itself.
Thus, by giving an unsentimental view of the titanic clash of civilizations
personified by Montezuma and Cortes, we get a better view of the true
nature of that clash and the values they represented.

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.

Based on many historical documents from both the Spanish and Mexican (Aztec) side, including newly discovered material. It tought me a great deal about the nuances of the whole conquest and the politics surrounding it. It's a very detailed and voluminous book, so by no means a quick introduction. Despite this, Hugh Thomas has managed to turn it in to a great and exciting read, a captivating account of a clash of cultures with the well known tragic ending. Highly recommended.

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.