Based on the BBC TV series, this is an account of one of the most cataclysmic events in history, the Spanish conquest of the Americas in the 16th century. Wood travels in the footsteps of some of the greatest of the Spanish adventurers, from Amazonia to Lake Titicaca and from the deserts of New Mexico to the heights of Machu Picchu. He experiences first hand the reality of epic journeys such as those made by Cortes and the Pizarros, and explores the turbulent and terrifying events surrounding the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires. He also retraces Orellano's extraordinary voyage of discovery down the Amazon and de Vaca's journey across the continent to the Pacific. As well as bringing history alive with text and pictures, Wood grapples with the moral legacy of the European invasion. These are stories not only of conquest, heroism and greed, but of changes in the way we see the world, history and civilization, justice and human rights.