Rating: 
Summary: Stranger Than Fiction.
Review: This story might have been rejected as too far-fetched if it were offered as fiction, but it is history. The fact is that Bernal Diaz was an eyewitness to the entire Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, led by Hernan Cortes. The tale he so eloquently lays out for us in these pages ranks with the most interesting historical epics of all time.Consider that when the Spanish arrived at the Mexican Gulf Coast in their galleons, the Aztecs had never seen ships, horses, steel swords, or even white men. In another bizarre twist, red-headed Cortes matched the description of a great Aztec god whose arrival signaled the end of their civilization. When word of this omen reached the ears of the great Aztec leader Montezuma in Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), he wept in panic. This arrival is comparable to a huge space ship landing on the White House lawn, and having an army of ray-gun-wielding aliens emerge to conquer us. As Diaz points out, Cortes was quite a leader and driven man. To prevent mutiny once he'd opted to pursue conquest inland, he destroyed his own ships. He then sets out, hopelessly out-numbered, to conquer the Aztecs. In the next year, his tiny army either wins over or defeats all comers--including a second arrival of Spanish intending to destroy him. He makes his way to the incredibly rich and magnificent city of Tenochtitlan, and then the excitement begins. Over the centuries, Cortes' brutal tactics have come under criticism. Conquest is rarely politically correct. We must remember the time and context, though. Cortes and Spain were spanning the globe in search of gold, but also to convert the masses to Christianity. They believed they were doing God's work, particularly after being introduced to the Aztec's practice of human sacrifice. Diaz does not attempt to justify the motives. He simply tells the tale, and what a tale it is. Most highly recommended. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.
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