History of Mexico, Volume 1, 1516-1521

Bancroft's monumental history opens at the threshold of catastrophe. The year is 1516; the Aztec empire stretches across central Mexico in breathtaking splendor, its capital Tenochtitlan rivaling any European city. Spanish explorers have begun to probe the Caribbean, hungry for gold and glory. Within five years, one of history's most sophisticated civilizations will lie in ruins. This first volume traces the gathering storm: the first fearful encounters between Europeans and Mesoamerican peoples, the forging of dangerous alliances, and the fateful decision of Hernán Cortés to push inland against all orders. Bancroft writes with the urgency of a man who understands that he is documenting an apocalypse. His sources draw from Spanish chronicles, indigenous records, and years of archival research, piecing together a world that was being annihilated even as it was being recorded. For anyone who wants to understand the deep roots of modern Mexico, of Latin America, of the enduring legacy of colonialism, this is where the story begins.