The Broken Spears 2007 Revised Edition: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico [Paperback]

Miguel Leon-Portilla (Author)

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Product Details

Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press; 2007 Revised Edition edition (Nov 15 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 080705500X
ISBN-13: 978-0807055007
Product Dimensions: 13.6 x 2.1 x 20.1 cm
Shipping Weight: 295 g
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #295,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #28 in Books > History > Ancient > Aztec

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Review

A moving and powerful account, a unique reading experience which should not be missed by any reader interested in history.—Los Angeles Times

Product Description

For hundreds of years, the history of the conquest of Mexico and the defeat of the Aztecs has been told in the words of the Spanish victors. Miguel León-Portilla has long been at the forefront of expanding that history to include the voices of indigenous peoples. In this new and updated edition of his classic The Broken Spears, León-Portilla has included accounts from native Aztec descendants across the centuries. These texts bear witness to the extraordinary vitality of an oral tradition that preserves the viewpoints of the vanquished instead of the victors. León-Portilla's new Postscript reflects upon the critical importance of these unexpected historical accounts.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 3.9 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The Other Guys Story of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, Mar 11 2009

By L. Stansbury - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The Broken Spears 2007 Revised Edition: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico (Paperback)

I enjoyed reading the Aztec account of the colonization of Colonial Mexico. The book is a translation of Nahuatl writings. See- the Spanish provided an alphabet which the Aztecs did not have prior to Spanish arrival and then the Aztecs applied the alphabet to their native Nahuatl language and began writing. The only concern a reader should have is accuracy- the documents of the account were written 10 years and more after the fact. A tip when reading: start with Chapter 14 which summarizes all the events, then read Chapters 1 - 13 which elaborate on events in detail, and finally conclude with chapters 15 - 16. I highly recommend this book for anyone studying Colonial Mexico History or persons who want to know more about Aztecs and their culture.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Other Perspective of the Conquest, July 19 2009

By D. Amos - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The Broken Spears 2007 Revised Edition: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico (Paperback)

Miguel Leon-Portillo's collection of Nahua accounts of the Spanish conquest affords the reader a unique opportunity to experience the conquest through the mind of the Amerindian. The book records the human response of the Nahuatl speaking peoples of central Mexico to the strange and terrifying events that ultimately destroyed their city and their way of life. Through songs, pictures, and oral tradition, the plight of the people was preserved, and some of the more powerful and eloquent of these are represented in "The Broken Spears."

Do not expect an objective historical account of the conquest from this book. That is not the intention, as clearly stated by Leon-Portillo in his introduction. Rather, it is a glimpse into how the natives responded to and came to terms with events that were so strange and frightening to them that they bordered on the apocalyptic. What the reader gains, then, is an eloquent testimony to the passion and intellect of the native people of central Mexico who were so often, in many Spanish accounts, reduced to barbaric, blood-thirsty savages with little capacity for human sympathy.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Re: Doomsdayer520 - Bernal Diaz's integrity, Dec 4 2007

By ekwop - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: The Broken Spears 2007 Revised Edition: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico (Paperback)

Not a review of this book.
Just to emphasized that no one who has read Bernal Diaz del Castillo's "Conquest of Mexico" would hold to any of the misconceptions noted in doomsdayer520's first paragraph. Bernal Diaz's famous memoir shows that he was honest and clear-eyed, and perpetually open to the humanity of the Aztecs and aware of, even the victim of, the venality of his countrymen.

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