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Conquistadors and Aztecs: A History of the Fall of Tenochtitlan

byStefan Rinke

Stefan Rinke narrates the Spanish-led conquest of Tenochtitlan by bringing conquistadors into the same frame as Mexica rulers, Indigenous allies and enemies, African participants, interpreters, and civilians. He traces diplomacy, warfare, epidemic disease, religious belief, local rivalries, and the siege that destroyed the Aztec capital. The book rejects a simple story of a small European force defeating an empire through superior technology. Rinke emphasizes contingency and multiple perspectives, showing how Native political choices made the conquest possible and how its violence created a new colonial order with enduring consequences.

Publisher

Oxford University Press, Incorporated

Publication date

2022

Format

Print edition

Pages

320

ISBN

9780197552469