In an astonishing work of scholarship that reads like an adventure thriller, historian Buddy Levy records the last days of the Aztec empire and the two men at the center of an epic clash of cultures.
“I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart which can be cured only with gold.” —Hernán Cortés
It was a moment unique in human history, the face-to-face meeting between two men from civilizations a world apart. Only one would survive the encounter. In 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived on the shores of Mexico with a roughshod crew of adventurers and the intent to expand the Spanish empire. Along the way, this brash and roguish conquistador schemed to convert the native inhabitants to Catholicism and carry off a fortune in gold. That he saw nothing paradoxical in his intentions is one of the most remarkable—and tragic—aspects of this unforgettable story of conquest.
In Tenochtitlán, the famed City of Dreams, Cortés met his Aztec counterpart, Montezuma: king, divinity, ruler of fifteen million people, and commander of the most powerful military machine in the Americas. Yet in less than two years, Cortés defeated the entire Aztec nation in one of the most astonishing military campaigns ever waged. Sometimes outnumbered in battle thousands-to-one, Cortés repeatedly beat seemingly impossible odds. Buddy Levy meticulously researches the mix of cunning, courage, brutality, superstition, and finally disease that enabled Cortés and his men to survive.
Conquistador is the story of a lost kingdom—a complex and sophisticated civilization where floating gardens, immense wealth, and reverence for art stood side by side with bloodstained temples and gruesome rites of human sacrifice. It’s the story of Montezuma—proud, spiritual, enigmatic, and doomed to misunderstand the stranger he thought a god. Epic in scope, as entertaining as it is enlightening, Conquistador is history at its most riveting.
Author: Buddy Levy
Publisher: Bantam
Customer Reviews
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An Excellent Read
"Men of God and men of war have strange affinities" Levy quotes Cormac McCarthy at the outset of this fascinating narrative of Hernàn Cortés and Montezuma. The quote could hardly be more appropriate, since both men were undoubtedly, each in their own way, exactly that: men of war and men of God. It makes for a heady mix: Cortés a pious Spaniard who unhesitatingly committed mass murder, Montezuma the absolute ruler of an empire both capable of both civil achievement and horrendous human sacrifice. The author's achievement is to relate the chain of events in a fascinating, eyewitness-quality way that leaves one marvelling at the audacity, ruthlessness and uncanny luck of the Gran Conquistador, whose character gives one the shivers, even while it's impossible not to admire his competence. Cortés was his own man who made his own decisions, while Montezuma, for all his power, comes across as a prisoner of his elevated position, his advisors, his high priests and his gods. He certainly made the tragic mistake of not being as ruthless from the start as his opponent was, every moment of every day. This is a most enjoyable book, a great read even for those familiar with the story of the Spanish conquests in the Americas. It is also mercifully free of irritating references to future, unrelated events, of the kind that Michael Wood so liberally sprinkles his Conquistadors with, even going so far as to label them the precursors of today's economic globalisation. Buddy Levy is not guilty of any opinion-mongering: he leaves the reader to make up his own mind. It's very respectful of him, and I respect him the more for it.
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Fantastic journey
The author takes you on this fantastic journey with Cortes and I must say that I am delighted with they way he describes one of the greatest efforts of all explorers to ever be undertaken. Enjoy!
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I love books like this
Great book! It was a quick read and was very enjoyable. Mr. Levy does great job of telling a story and providing detail without bogging things down. You get facts and info as part of the story, it's done very well. Hernan Cortez is a truly one of a kind historical figure, I would highly reccomend this book to anyone who loves history.
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