Aztec History Book

AZTEC HISTORY

Very Short Introduction employs the disciplines of history, religious studies, and anthropology
This
it illuminates the complexities of Aztec life. Readers meet a people highly skilled in sculpture,
as
city planning, poetry, and philosophy, who were also profoundly committed to cosmic
astronomy,
through the thrust of the ceremonial knife and through warfare. Davíd Carrasco looks
regeneration
Spanish accounts that have colored much of the Western narrative to let Aztec voices
beyond
about their origin stories, the cosmic significance of their capital city, their methods of child
speak
THE AZTECS:
A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION
rearing, and the contributions women made to daily life and the empire.

Aztecs were fierce, honorable, death-obsessed, and profoundly
The
A famed scholar evokes the life of this complex culture on
religious.
eve of its extinction, when the Spanish arrived and conquered
the
Montezuma and strangling Atahualpa. "It is,
them--imprisoning
question, the most brilliant, the clearest and most readable
without
of Aztec life available in any language."--The Observer.
portrayal
DAILY LIFE OF THE AZTECS

three years, the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, leading a
In
hundred Spanish soldiers, overcame a centuries-old empire
few
could put tens of thousands of warriors on the field. Even
that
his god-like reputation had been shattered, and his horses
after
cannons were no longer regarded as supernatural, his ruthless
and
took him on to victory. Yet in the end, his prize was not the
daring
that he had sought, but the destruction of the entire Aztec
gold
mission statement, a type of statement of purpose, is
civilization.A
statement which is used to communicate the purpose of an
a
Although most of the time it will remain the same for
organisation.
long period of time, it is not uncommon for organisations to
a
their mission statement; this generally happens when an
update
hundreds of years, the history of the conquest of Mexico and
For
defeat of the Aztecs has been told in the words of the Spanish
the
Miguel León-Portilla has long been at the forefront of
victors.
that history to include the voices of indigenous
expanding
In this new and updated edition of his classic The Broken
peoples.
León-Portilla has included accounts from native Aztec
Spears,
across the centuries. These texts bear witness to the
descendants
vitality of an oral tradition that preserves the
extraordinary
of the vanquished instead of the victors. León-Portilla's
viewpoints
Postscript reflects upon the critical importance of these
new
CORTÉS AND THE AZTEC CONQUEST
organisation evolves.
BROKEN SPEARS: THE AZTEC ACCOUNT OF THE
THE
OF MEXICO
CONQUEST
unexpected historical accounts.

this captivating guide, you will discover why Maya have gained
In
worldwide admiration over the many other civilizations that
such
in Mesoamerica at the time. You will learn how the Maya
existed
developed, the major turning points in their 3,000-year-
civilization
history, the mysteries surrounding their demise, and some of
long
unique places where Maya exist to this day.
the
the first part of this book, you will discover the origins of the
In
civilization and the Mesoamerican cultures that may have
Maya
them. You will find out why Maya (out of all the
influenced
tribes that existed in the region at the time) have
different
the imagination of the West so much. The book will reveal
captured
they lived, ate, slept, whom they worshipped, and how they
how
Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya is the
The
English-language dictionary of Mesoamerican mythology
first-ever
religion. Nearly 300 entries, from accession to yoke, describe
and
main gods and symbols of the Olmecs, Zapotecs, Maya,
the
Mixtecs, Toltecs, and Aztecs. Topics range from
Teotihuacanos,
and jester gods to reptile eye and rubber, from creation
jaguar
and sacred places to ritual practices such as
accounts
confession, dance, and pilgrimage. Mary Miller and
bloodletting,
Taube draw on their research in the fast-changing field of
Karl
studies, and on the latest Mexican discoveries, to produce
Maya
authoritative work that will serve as a standard reference for
an
scholars, and travelers. Photographs and illustrations
students,
CIVILIZATION: A CAPTIVATING GUIDE TO MAYA
MAYA
AND MAYA MYTHOLOGY
HISTORY
used herbal medicines and hallucinogenic plants to treat the sick.
ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF THE GODS AND
AN
OF ANCIENT MEXICO AND THE MAYA
SYMBOLS
throughout

an astonishing work of scholarship that reads like an adventure
In
historian Buddy Levy records the last days of the Aztec
thriller,
and the two men at the center of an epic clash of cultures.
empire
and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart which can
“I
cured only with gold.” —Hernán Cortés
be
is the story of a lost kingdom—a complex and
Conquistador
civilization where floating gardens, immense wealth,
sophisticated
reverence for art stood side by side with bloodstained temples
and
gruesome rites of human sacrifice. It’s the story of Montezuma
and
spiritual, enigmatic, and doomed to misunderstand the
—proud,
he thought a god. Epic in scope, as entertaining as it is
stranger
Conquistador is history at its most riveting.
enlightening,
Townsend gives the complete history of the Aztec
Richard
rise from humble nomads to empire builders.
civilization’s
a hundred years, the Aztecs established the largest empire
Within
Mesoamerican history, and at Tenochtitlan built a vast,
in
city in a lake, a Venice of the New World. The book
shimmering
with a dramatic narrative of the Spanish conquest, as seen
ends
the Aztec viewpoint. 16 color and 154 black-and-white
from
illustrations
HERNAN CORTES, KING
CONQUISTADOR:
AND THE LAST STAND OF THE AZTECS
MONTEZUMA,
AZTECS (THIRD EDITION)
THE
PEOPLES AND PLACES)
(ANCIENT

capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan, was, in its era, one of
The
largest cities in the world. Built on an island in the middle of a
the
lake, its population numbered perhaps 150,000, with
shallow
350,000 people in the urban network clustered around the
another
shores. In 1521, at the height of Tenochtitlan's power, which
lake
over much of Central Mexico, Hernando Cortés and his
extended
conquered the city. Cortés boasted to King Charles V of
followers
that Tenochtitlan was "destroyed and razed to the ground."
Spain
CHACO MERIDIAN: ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF POLITICAL
THE
RELIGIOUS POWER IN THE ANCIENT SOUTHWEST
AND
this return to his lively, provocative reconceptualization of the
In
of Chaco Canyon and its monumental 11th-century
meaning
Stephen H. Lekson expands—over time and distance—
structures,
understanding of the political and economic integration of the
our
Southwest.
American
argument that Chaco did not stand alone, but rather was
Lekson’s
first of three capitals in a vast networked region incorporating
the
of the Pueblo world has gained credence over the past 15
most
Here, he marshals new evidence and new interpretations to
years.
the case for ritual astronomical alignment of monumental
further
and cities, great ceremonial roads, and the shift of the
structures
capital first from Chaco Canyon to the Aztec Ruins site
regional
then to Paquimé, all located on the same longitudinal
and
meridian.
DEATH OF AZTEC TENOCHTITLAN, THE LIFE OF
THE
CITY
MEXICO
But was it?

written in the Aztec language, Nahuatl, in 1552, this
Originally
codex was the first herbal and medical text compiled in the
classic
World. The author of this extraordinarily rare and valuable
New
was Martín de la Cruz, an Aztec physician, whose work
document
subsequently translated into Latin by an Aztec nobleman, Juan
was
Badiano.
book was translated into English in 1939 by William Gates. In
The
pages are centuries-old Aztec remedies for boils, hair loss,
these
insomnia, sore throats, hiccups, gout, lesions, wounds,
cataracts,
diseases, tumors, and scores of other ailments. Over 180 black-
joint
figures of the plants augment the text, along with 38 full
and-white
illustrations made specially for the Gates edition. Additional
color
include an introduction to the Mexican botanical
supplements
an analytical index of the plants, and a new Introduction by
system,
Aztecs were fierce, honorable, death-obsessed, and
The
religious. A famed scholar evokes the life of this
profoundly
culture on the eve of its extinction, when the Spanish
complex
and conquered them--imprisoning Montezuma and
arrived
Atahualpa. "It is, without question, the most brilliant, the
strangling
and most readable portrayal of Aztec life available in any
clearest
AN AZTEC HERBAL: THE CLASSIC CODEX OF 1552
anthropologist Bruce Byland of the City University of New York.
DAILY LIFE OF THE AZTECS
language."--The Observer.