Cortes and Montezuma by Maurice Collis

Cortes and Montezuma by Maurice Collis

Landing on the Mexican coast on Good Friday, 1519, Hernan Cortes felt himself the bearer of a divine burden to conquer and convert the first advanced civilization Europeans had yet encountered in the West. For Montezuma, leader of the Mexicans, April 21, 1519 (known in their sophisticated astronomical system as 9 Wind Day) was the precise date of a dire prophesy: the return of Quetzalcoatl, a fearsome god predicted to arrive by ship, from the East, with light skin, a black beard, robed in black--exactly as Cortes would. The ensuing drama is described by eminent historian Maurice Collis in a style that is equal parts story and scholarship. Though its consequences have been treated by writers as diverse as D.H. Lawrence and Charles Olson, never before have the facts of this event been rendered with such extraordinary clarity and elegance.

"A fascinating piece of history..Maurice Collis tells an extremely intricate story with perfect clarity, and he writes also with obvious delight at having such a good story to tell." -- David Garnett - New Statesman
"Collis has set out not merely to retell the fabulous story of the conquest of Mexico, but to study in some detail the characters of Montezuma and Cortés.... Written excitingly, [it is] a book that was needed and could hardly have done better." -- Michael Swan - Time and Tide

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780811214230
ISBN 10	0811214230
Title	Cortes and Montezuma
Author	Maurice Collis
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	New Directions Publishing Corporation
Year published	1999-08-20
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable