Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1237191 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-15
• Original language: English
• 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
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

More than just about Cortes & Pizarro
As you read this book, you can imagine it being Michael Wood's speaking script for his TV program.

As well as the stories you would expect about Cortes & Pizarro, I was pleasantly surprised to read of 2 explorers I'd never heard of - Orellana & de Vaca - which made this different to many other books of the same theme.

Living History
Michael Wood on screen and in print has that rare ability to transfer his enthusiasm for his subject to his audience. Here he takes us through the Spanish Conquest of 16th Century Central and South America by journeying to the places where the events occured. Many of them quite off the beaten track and pretty much as they were. In Mexico City he retraces Cortez's seizure of the city with a street by street account through the modern city.

He makes one crucial point that many seem to miss. Cortez and Pizarro did not conquer these nations with a few hundred men as legend would have us believe. They had tens of thousands of native allies who marched with them. These were the unhappy vassal states conquered by the Aztecs and Incas who basically wanted pay back. In a way he makes us aware of 2 conquests. Those by the Aztecs and Incas over their neighbors and the Spanish Conquest with the help of those neighbors.

The aftermath is also closely examined with the Church's paradoxical role in it. At first brutalizing the native populations and in later years trying to stop it. At first attempting to wipe out all traces of the native cultures and later feverishly trying to preserve it. It is not as simple a tale as some believe and Wood clearly takes the reader through it in this lavishly illustrated volume. At present the TV series that this book was meant to compliment has yet to appear on DVD. Hopefully soon but for now Wood's book shows us how alive history can be and how some of its players are not quite what we think they are.

Stolen Continent
From the moment I started this book I could not put it down until I got to the last page, pausing for thought and burning with anxiety at what had occurred.

There are about five distinctive sections. About two chapters on the Aztecs and the fall of Tenochtitlan. Similarly about the Incas and the end of their rebellion. Then a chapter on the discovery of the Amazon. Another on Spanish explorer Cabeza De Vaca and finally on how the Spanish conquest lead to a human rights debate.

The paintings and illustrations are in colour. The writing is warm, gripping and balanced - A BBC style expose of what was going on (by an underrated BBC TV program) with its brillian author presenter.

If you don't have a clue about how S. America was stolen, this book takes you to the thick of it. To the vanquishing of two entire civilisations and an incomparable destruction by "civilised" Spaniards crazy about gold and converts to Christianity as a pretext for enslaving and abusing their conquered victims.

He sticks to the most important details, the massacres, what made the conquistadors tick?, the heroism, bravery and about confronting "The Other" - a titanic clash of cultures. What indeed could have happened if the Chinese got there first as Woods ruefully inquires?

This book I hope will show Latin Americans in particular the importance of replacing something lost though it can never be regained. Perhaps Mexico city should be given back its original name.

I'd love to have seen a better illustration or two of Tenochtitlan but it is now all gone anyway.

This book is a celebration of those lost golden civilisations with a penchant for human sacrifice.