The True History Of The Conquest Of New Spain By Bernal Diaz Del Castillo One Of Its Conquerors

Books I-IV (1517-19), translated into English and edited, with introduction and notes, by Alfred Percival Maudslay, M.A., Hon. Professor of Archaeology, National Museum, Mexico, concerning the discovery of Mexico and the expeditions of Francisco Hernández de Cordova and Hernan Cortés, the march inland, and the war in Tlaxcala. The edition includes a bibliography of Mexico, pp. 311-68. Continued in Second Series 24, 25, 30, and 40. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1908.

Continued from Second Series 23, 24, 25, 30. Books XIV-XVII, translated into English and edited, with introduction and notes, by Alfred Percival Maudslay, M.A., Hon. Professor of Archaeology, National Museum, Mexico, relating the expedition to Honduras, the return to Mexico, the rule of the Audiencia there, and the record of the conquistadores, with an appendix including the fifth letter of Cortés to the Emperor Charles V, 1526. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1916. Owing to technical constraints the Map of Tabasco, by Melchor Alfaro de Santa Cruz, 1579 is not included.

Vivid, powerful and absorbing, this is a first-person account of one of the most startling military episodes in history: the overthrow of Montezuma's doomed Aztec Empire by the ruthless Hernan Cortes and his band of adventurers. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, himself a soldier under Cortes, presents a fascinatingly detailed description of the Spanish landing in Mexico in 1520 and their amazement at the city, the exploitation of the natives for gold and other treasures, the expulsion and flight of the Spaniards, their regrouping and eventual capture of the Aztec capital.

This rugged new translation--the first entirely new English translation in half a century and the only one based on the most recent critical edition of the Guatemalan MS--allows Diaz to recount, in his own battle-weary and often cynical voice, the achievements, stratagems, and frequent cruelty of Hernando Cortes and his men as they set out to overthrow Moctezuma's Aztec kingdom and establish a Spanish empire in the New World. The concise contextual introduction to this volume traces the origins, history, and methods of the Spanish enterprise in the Americas; it also discusses the nature of the conflict between the Spanish and the Aztecs in Mexico, and compares Diaz's version of events to those of other contemporary chroniclers. Editorial glosses summarize omitted portions, and substantial footnotes explain those terms, names, and cultural references in Diaz's text that may be unfamiliar to modern readers. A chronology of the Conquest is included, as are a guide to major figures, a select bibliography, and three maps.

Follows on from Second Series 23, 24, 25, and continued in 40. Books X-XIII, relating the siege and capture of Mexico, 1521, and the ensuing settlement, translated into English and edited, with introduction and notes, by Alfred Percival Maudslay, M.A., Hon. Professor of Archaeology, National Museum, Mexico. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1912.