When Montezuma met Cortés : the true story of the meeting that changed history / Matthew Restall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Restall, Matthew, 1964- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Montezuma II, Emperor of Mexico, approximately 1480-1520.

Montezuma.

Cortés, Hernán, 1485-1547.

Cortés, Hernán.

Mexico--History--Conquest, 1519-1540.

Mexico.

History.

HISTORY / Expeditions & Discoveries.

HISTORY / Latin America / Mexico.

POLITICAL SCIENCE / Colonialism & Post-Colonialism.

Local Subjects:

HISTORY / Expeditions & Discoveries.

HISTORY / Latin America / Mexico.

POLITICAL SCIENCE / Colonialism & Post-Colonialism.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxxiii, 526 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), maps, genealogical tables ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2018]

Summary:

"On November 8, 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés first met Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, at the entrance to the capital city of Tenochtitlan. This introduction--the prelude to the Spanish seizure of Mexico City and to European colonization of the mainland of the Americas--has long been the symbol of Cortés's bold and brilliant military genius. Montezuma, on the other hand, is remembered as a coward who gave away a vast empire and touched off a wave of colonial invasions across the hemisphere. But is this really what happened? In a departure from traditional tellings, When Montezuma Met Cortés uses "the Meeting"--as Restall dubs their first encounter--as the entry point into a comprehensive reevaluation of both Cortés and Montezuma. Drawing on rare primary sources and overlooked accounts by conquistadors and Aztecs alike, Restall explores Cortés's and Montezuma's posthumous reputations, their achievements and failures, and the worlds in which they lived--leading, step by step, to a dramatic inversion of the old story. As Restall takes us through this sweeping, revisionist account of a pivotal moment in modern civilization, he calls into question our view of the history of the Americas, and, indeed, of history itself" -- Publisher.

Contents:

Prologue: Invention

Mysterious kindness

No small amazement

Social grace and monstrous ritual

The empire in his hands

The greatest enterprises

Principal plunderers

The epic boxer

Without mercy or purpose

Epilogue: Halls of the Montezumas

Appendix: Language and label, cast and dynasty.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 469-508) and index.

ISBN:

9780062427267

0062427261

OCLC:

1012729478