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Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs | 
 enlarge | Author: Buddy Levy
Creator: Patrick Lawlor
Publisher: Tantor Media
Category: Book
List Price: $37.99
Buy New: $23.09
You Save: $14.90 (39%)
New (17) Used (3) from $23.09
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 409226
Format: Audiobook, Cd
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 10
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.5 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 1400106540
Dewey Decimal Number: 972.02
EAN: 9781400106547
ASIN: 1400106540
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| • | Hardcover - Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs | | • | Kindle Edition - Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs | | • | Audio Download - Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs (Unabridged) | | • | Audio CD - Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs | | • | Audio CD - Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In an astonishing work of scholarship that reads like an adventure thriller, historian Buddy Levy records the last days of the Aztec empire and the two men at the center of an epic clash of cultures.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Interesting August 15, 2008
I enjoyed most of the book. By the end the battle scenes got somewhat repetitive. But I recommend it if you want to learn about this period.
definite must read July 21, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
i couldn't put this book down. the incredible deceit and politics that went on and still continues today. you could really see the humanity in both Cortes and Montezuma. very well-researched. now i want to go to mexico city and dig deep in its streets and sewers to find all that lost gold!!!!
Diseases of the heart July 11, 2008
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
In a letter quoted by Buddy Levy in his magnificent Conquistador, Hernan Cortes confesses that he and his men suffer from a particular "disease of the heart": a lust for gold and power. The tale of the unhappy outcome of that disease, the destruction of one of the New World's mightiest empires in an astoundingly short time by an astoundingly small handful of adventurers, is the most apparent storyline in Conquistador. Levy tells it with eloquence and accuracy.
But there's another storyline in the book that I find just as fascinating. The disease of the heart which afflicted Cortes and his men also troubled Montezuma, for the Aztec Empire, despite its achievements in science and art, was also a bloodthirsty machine that subjugated native peoples, sacrified tens of thousands to pitiless gods, and created caste systems in which the many were ground under the feet of the few. What Levy gives us, then, is a double portrait of two invalids suffering from similar illnesses. One, a European captain with fewer than 500 men, the other a divine emperor with life-or-death power over 15 million people. In the end, both of them died from their diseases, Montezuma and his empire literally, Cortes morally and (despite his sporadic religious zealotry) spiritually. Curiously, neither of them seemed to have quite the necessary stamina to survive their illness.
In telling the story of the clash between these two men, Levy explores the tactics by which Cortes managed to defeat Montezuma: a combination of bluster, good luck, superior technology, alliances with disgruntled indigenous peoples, and hard fighting. His description of La Noche Triste, the night in which Cortes and his men were forced out of the royal city of Tenochtitlan by rallying Aztecs and nearly destroyed, is surpassed only by his account of the 2-month siege that retook and destroyed the city. (Cortes, for example, dug a one-mile canal to launch battle ships in the lake surrounding Tenochtitlan. Over 200,000 Aztecs, including Montezuma, perished in the resulting fight, which Levy describes with the gusto of Homer's account of the fall of Troy.) Afterwards, Cortes built his palace on the ruins of Montezuma's.
The relationship between Montezuma and Cortes has always been a strange one, with both men appearing both attracted and repulsed by the other. Levy suggests that part of the ambivalence may've been because Montezuma, overpowered by the splendor of the invaders, fell victim to the Stockholm Syndrome (a sense of loyalty to one's oppressors). It's a fascinating suggestion.
All in all, a splendid book that combines historical narrative with much insight about how diseases of the heart can bring down both individuals and empires. Something to think about.
Levy offers an amazing epic journey into the minds of legends June 26, 2008
13 out of 18 found this review helpful
I was a huge fan of Levy's first biography of David Crockett, and was eager to read Conquistador. Once again Levy was able to paint an amazing portrait of these historical figures, while illuminating historical events in an entertaining manner. The final siege on Tenochtitlan makes an amazing climax to this epic.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in historical non-fiction.
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