Cortes and Montezuma
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.79 (560 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0571056261 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 251 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 0000-00-00 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Lawrence and Charles Olson, never before have the facts of this event been rendered with such extraordinary clarity and elegance.. Though its consequences have been treated by writers as diverse as D.H. For Montezuma, leader of the Mexicans, April 21, 1519 (known in their sophisticated astronomical system as 9 Wind Day) was the precise date of a dire prophesy: the return of Quetzalcoatl, a fearsome god predicted to arrive by ship, from the East, with light skin, a black beard, robed in blackexactly as Cortés would. The convergence of Cortés and Montezuma is the most emblematic event in the birth of what would come to be called "America." Landing on the Mexican coast on Good Friday, 1519, Hernán Cortés felt himself the bearer of a divine burden to conquer and convert the first advanced civilization Europeans had yet encountered in the West. The ensuing drama is described by eminent historian Maurice Collis in a style that is equal parts story and scholarship
Riley James said A Must-Read whether interested in pre-Hispanic Mexico or not. If you¡¯re interested in pre-Hispanic America this book is a must read. Maurice Collis tells it in a way that makes you see the real thinking of both Montezuma and Cortez. And if you aren¡¯t already interested in ancient Mexico this book is still a great read. It reads like a novel rather than a history.There are things that are hard to imagine until you compile the Cortez letters, the friar¡¯s notes, and previous historical documents as Mr. Collis has expertly done. For example there&ie. "One of the very best!" according to Ronald Breeze. I have read other accounts of the Mixica, most notably by Michael D. Coe, but none of them hit upon the complexity involving the meeting of Cortes and Montecuzoma as this book did. Drawing on dialog from Bernal Diaz (The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico-also another great read), Collis has stripped away the dryness of other books, on this subject, that were written primarily for academia, leaving the intimate human perspective to the greatness of both of these men and the circumstances that caused each to react as he di. A New Perspective on an Incredible Story The story of the conquest of the remarkable Aztec civilization by Cortes' handful of Spaniards is an incredible drama. The accounts of Bernal Diaz and Prescott tell it well, but at considerable length, and with only a superficial comprehension of what motivated the Mexicans' responses to Cortes' invasion. What makes Corliss's succinct and compelling account so insightful and remarkable, to me, is his sympathetic understanding of the Mexicans' and Montezuma's complex astrological-magical religion, and how it decisively s
. Collis spent many years in Burma as an Indian Civil Servant
Written excitingly, it is a book that was needed and could hardly have done better.” (Michael Swan - Time and Tide) . “A fascinating piece of historyMaurice Collis tells an extremely intricate story with perfect clarity, and he writes also with obvious delight at having such a good story to tell.” (David Garnett - New Statesman)“Collis has set out not merely to retell the fabulous story of the conquest of Mexico, but to study in some detail the characters of Montezuma and Cortés