The Aztecs
(Book)

"The Aztecs was first published in Great Britain in 1973 by Macmillan under the title The Aztecs : a history. This edition follows the text of the first edition with minor emendations."--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 353-363) and index.

For the armies of Hernan Cortes, marching down the causeway that joined the fabled city of Tenochtitlan to the mainland, it was as if they were approaching 'another Venice'. Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), with its great towers and temples, was the hub of the vast Aztec empire ruled over by Moctezuma II. The Aztecs were warriors: they had arrived in the area as nobodies at the beginning of the 14th century, built an empire on their skill as mercenaries and maintained it by exacting tribute from their vassal states. It is a combination of sophistication and barbarism that makes the Aztecs so endlessly fascinating - that, and the poignancy of Moctezuma's defeat in 1521 at the hands of Cortes and his conquistadores.