Customer Reviews

The Conquistadores (Men-at-Arms)

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The title of this book is misleading: it is not only the story of Cortez and Pizzaro, but also of their opponents, the Aztecs, the Incas, and the Mayas. The book clearly explains where the military advantages of the Spaniards lay (it wasn't gunpowder as you might think!) and also describes the strengths and weaknesses of the cultures they subdued, sometimes with relative ease and sometimes with great difficulty. You will come away with new respect for all the combatants.

This book is one of osprey finest, its a pity that the section of the conquistadores is so small, but it contains a lot of good information. And it is always cool to read about 400 men with armour and swords who conquer a whole nation. I Love the helmets.
P.S. Osprey is publishing a new book about the conquistadores.

This book really helped flesh out Bernal Diaz's account of the fall of the 'Aztec' Empire for me. The first part of the text concerns the gear of the Conquistadores themselves, with the following catagories being the Aztecs/Mexica, the Inca, and the Maya, the three major enemies the Spaniards found in the New World. The plates are awesome, depicting, among others, noble Incan warriors, a freaky-looking Maya spearman, and a plain nasty Aztec priest with the heart of his most recent victim.

A considerable part of this book talks about the Aztec, Maya and Inca. While it has got really valuable information, not all assertions should be taken to letter. The European vision of Native americans is still predominant in most works, and it is still polluted with myths and false assumptions about facts and ideology of these peoples.

It is a great introductory book, thanks to the Conquistadores (which are familiar to us), and it has beautiful and quite accurate drawings. However, if Aztec and Maya history is what catches your interest, and you are willing to dig deeper, I HUGELY recommend looking for some Mexican authors, who have a different take on the subject: what Mesoamerican peoples thought, and what their traditions really were, not through the conquerors' eyes. Pablo Moctezuma Barragan, Miguel de Leon-Portilla and Ignacio Romerovargas are good examples. Be warned however, that these authors may display too much nationalism. All in all, when reading ANYTHING about Prehispanic American civilizations, it is recommended to be critical and apply your own criteria.

I recommend this book to anyone who is eager to learn something about what the Conquest of the most powerful nations in America was like.