Review: Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs
Conquistador Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs , by Buddy Levy, covers the Cortes expedition, from the landing along the Mexican coast through the destruction of the Aztec capital, with a short wrap up of the featured players. I was glad that the author resisted the temptation to go on and on and on. He found his ending point and took it. For those wanting more, there is extra information about the important characters and chronologies in several appendices at the end. Levy writes in a readable style that is befitting the book's popular audience. It is a narrative account more than an academic treatise. Although Montezuma gets equal billing in the title, the book is largely written from Cortes' point of view. No doubt his person is better sourced, but it is also a choice of the author. It is Cortes who drives the action, landing in a foreign land basically on the run from the authorities in Cuba. His courage, determination, diplomacy, and charisma ...