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Rating: 
Summary: Thrilling, daunting
Review: A very graphic, realistic and shuddering account of the discovery and conquest of Mexico by one who witnessed this major historical event from 1517 to 1521.
Although a lengthy narrative, the reader will find themself vehemently ripping through the pages of Bernal Diaz' reminiscences while anticipating the next turn of events. With a plethora of plot twists, there is never a sluggish moment.
Prior to his experiences with Cortes on the conquest of Mexico, Diaz gives us an account of his two previous expeditions with Cordova and Grijalva to the east coast of Central America from 1517-1518. Battles were fought, different cultures were found, and gold was discovered among the indigenous people. This beaconed the governor of Cuba to send Cortes to these lands for `settlement', with the fundamental motivation for the quest of riches.
We read of how Cortes and his men fought many battles on the trail to Montezuma's city of gold. Cortes was indeed a smooth talker, always attempting peace efforts first by making promises and talking flattery while distributing gifts to the Indian tribes he met along the way, all the time with the underlying theme of Christianity. This lead to a growing number of Indian allies, who for the most part had developed a deep-seated hatred for Montezuma due to his unmerciful plundering of villages for human sacrifices to please their gods. Cortez, after nearly losing main battles to overtake Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), finally comes in with 150,000 Indian allies to conquer the city of gold.
For the armchair adventure seeker, this book has it all.
Rating: 
Summary: Actual account that seems like fiction
Review: Discovery and Conuest of Mexico by Bernal Diaz Del Castilo is a tremendous first hand account of one of histories most amazing achievements. Although the ethnocentricity of the Spainard is patently obvious in most of his descriptions, the story of 500 soldiers of fortune conquering an empire of millions in a newly discovered land is easily able to grab the reader's interest. Written in the late 1500's the language is archaic and romanticized,but this serves to make it a book that can appeal to the ordinary reader as well as be a historical source to the academic. It's not for everyone, but anyone with an interest in history and a love of tales of adventure will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Actual account that seems like fiction
Review: Discovery and Conuest of Mexico by Bernal Diaz Del Castilo is a tremendous first hand account of one of histories most amazing achievements. Although the ethnocentricity of the Spainard is patently obvious in most of his descriptions, the story of 500 soldiers of fortune conquering an empire of millions in a newly discovered land is easily able to grab the reader's interest. Written in the late 1500's the language is archaic and romanticized,but this serves to make it a book that can appeal to the ordinary reader as well as be a historical source to the academic. It's not for everyone, but anyone with an interest in history and a love of tales of adventure will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: CONQUEST: THE GOSSIP
Review: I thought Hugh Thomas's CONQUEST included everything, with his hundreds of sources, but he leaves out many of Diaz's juiciest details. Thomas, for example (though his wry British wit makes the history of Montezuma's fall read like a novel) writes that a Castilian castaway who decided to stay with the Maya was "ashamed" of his tattoos and piercings. Hardly! We find out from Diaz's account that upon hearing of his rescue, he tells his fellow rescuee, "I have a wife and three kids! Look at these beautiful children!" His friend says bring your family along, but the guy is happy with his Indian life. Then - his Mayan wife does the wifely thing and screams at the guy to get the hell out of her house.Just his description of how another Spanish castaway, a dog, bounds joyfully into a Spanish boat "leaps off the page," as it were. Historian Thomas gives us a much broader picture - the man who decides to stay with the Maya is from a part of Spain that turned to cannibalism during a famine - but leaves out the things that would only interest a foot soldier (the flogging of seven pork-stealing sailors, the towns that had the best looking women, etc). Best of all, the paperback was translated by someone who isn't an expert on the Conquest of Mexico, which makes the guileless writing of old Diaz even more guileless and immediate. Gotta read both books! :-)
Rating:
Summary: CONQUEST: THE GOSSIP
Review: I thought Hugh Thomas's CONQUEST, with its hundreds of sources, included everything there was to know (and his wry British wit makes the tragedy of Montezuma's cowardice read like a novel), but Diaz adds a whole new perspective. Thomas, for example, writes that a Castilian castaway who decided to stay with the Maya, Gonzalo Guerrero, was "ashamed" of his tattoos and pierced body parts. We find out from Diaz's account that this is a gross misinterpretation. Upon hearing of his rescue, Guerrero in fact tells his fellow rescuee, the famous Geronimo de Aguilar, "Are you nuts? I have a wife and three kids! Look at these beautiful children!" Aguilar suggests bringing his family along, but Guerrero's happy with his new life [and has a heroic-sized statue in Yucatan for his leadership against the Spanish - wife and children by his side]. How does the conversation end? Guerrero's Mayan wife does the logical thing and tells Aguilar in no uncertain terms to get the [expletive deleted] out of her house.
Diaz's description of how another Spanish castaway, a dog, bounds joyfully into a Spanish boat "leaps off the page," as it were. Historian Thomas gives us a much broader picture, but leaves out details that would only interest a foot soldier (how one gets a pretty girl for the night at Montezuma's palace, for example). The paperback was translated by someone who isn't an historian, which makes the guileless writing of old Diaz all the more immediate. A must-read for those fascinated by the century between the voyages of the Santa Maria and the Mayflower -- the century when everything interesting happened.
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