ushgigeh's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible first-person narration of the conquest. If I were to be asked what the craziest story is that I've read in the past few years, it must be this one. Hard to believe that this conquest happened, that this aztec culture existed, that there were actual adventures like this one.
Absurd at every step of the way: The small size of Cortes army; the prophecy of a people coming from the east to reign over the aztec lands; the running-on-land of the spanish vessels; the kidnapping of moctecusuma; the chutzpe with which Cortes manages time and time again to convert enemies, to calm his own soldiers, to heighten their perception as demi-gods; the escape from tenochtitlan; and then finally the construction of vessels to lay siege to the city in the lake. What an absurd, crazy, fascinating story. Unbelievable.
Absurd at every step of the way: The small size of Cortes army; the prophecy of a people coming from the east to reign over the aztec lands; the running-on-land of the spanish vessels; the kidnapping of moctecusuma; the chutzpe with which Cortes manages time and time again to convert enemies, to calm his own soldiers, to heighten their perception as demi-gods; the escape from tenochtitlan; and then finally the construction of vessels to lay siege to the city in the lake. What an absurd, crazy, fascinating story. Unbelievable.
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