Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #384692 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

Customer Reviews

a bit lightweight and full of inaccuracies
The book is a readable account of the Conquest of the Mexica empire. Unfortunately, I think the author fails to situate the episode in its temporal and cultural context; it feels more like an adventure story than history. It is also full of innacuracies, which suggest that the author is only superficially familiar with its topic. For example, Levy writes that the ancient city of Tula is located in what is today Mexico City, when in reality is in the state of Hidalgo, some 40 miles away. We are also told that Nahuatl was a Maya language, when in fact it belongs to a different language family altoghether.
In my opinion, Hugh Thomas' account Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes, and the Fall of Old Mexicois a far superior piece, succeding in giving a better feel of the clash of two completely different worlds, with the main characters far better placed in their temporal and cultural context.