Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #275704 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-15
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .2 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
Could a 16th-century army of 160 Spaniards subjugate a Native American empire of 5-10 million people? Conquistadors, recounting "tales of heroism and endurance, but also of immeasurable greed and staggering brutality", explains how the "lure of gold", the attributes of individual leaders and the hand of fate made this possible.

The book tells of alien cultures meeting for the first time; of Cortes conquering Mexico, Francisco Pizarro's clash with the Incas, the search for El Dorado, and Cabeza de Vaca's years spent peacefully amongst Native Americans. Tying in with a BBC television series in which Michael Wood follows in the footsteps of these explorers, this copiously illustrated and attractively presented book incorporates glimpses of his own journeys. A thought-provoking, balanced and not excessively gory account, Conquistadors reveals how Europeans got bank vaults of gold, potatoes on their dinner tables and lupins in their gardens, while the Native Americans suffered "devastating cultural loss" and gained ravaging diseases. Feeling that "blame or regret are pointless", Wood's focus is on understanding the events and explaining how the world still lives in the conquest's wake. Debate on the morality of the conquest and on what it means to be human occurred in the 16th century and questions on the treatment of traditional cultures, the exploitation of the natural world and globalisation remain as living legacies of the Conquistadors. --Karen Tiley

From Publishers Weekly
In Conquistadors, journalist and filmmaker Michael Wood (In Search of the Trojan War) travels the routes of the Spanish explorers and conquerors (and often by the same means, including a homemade balsa raft on Coca River rapids) the length and breadth of South and Central America and some of North America as well. With photos, maps and illustrations adorning nearly every page, the book examines records of the conquests both by the invaders and the native peoples. A 1613 letter from Peruvian historian Waman Poma to the king of Spain appealing for humane treatment of Indians, Gonzalo Pizarro's catalogue of the infamous El Dorado misadventures, Cabeza de Vaca's account of crossing North America and Geronimo de Aguilar's diary of the Night of Tears (when Aztecs fought back and killed 600 Spaniards) are among the numerous firsthand accounts Wood presents. (Univ. of California, $27.50 288p ISBN 0-520-23064-7)

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Renowned for his popular works on a series of historical subjects, documentarian Wood turns his attention to the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Retracing the legendary paths of the sixteenth-century conquistadors, he juxtaposes his contemporary journey with the travels and adventures of Cortes, Pizarro, Orellana, and de Vaca. In addition to outlining the destruction of both the Aztec and the Incan empires, he examines the moral, cultural, and spiritual consequences of the European invasion. Accompanied by a series of striking color photographs, the digestible narrative provides a provocative overview of a historical episode that was both magnificent and shameful. Sure to be in demand when PBS airs a four-part companion series. Margaret Flanagan
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