Posted on 03/16/2024 5:10:39 AM PDT by marktwain
Interesting, thanks for posting.
I purchased the same book off of ebay and I definitely enjoyed reading Bernal’s first-hand account.
If you enjoy first-hand historical writings - as I do, then I would highly recommend reading this book.
Fascinating stuff. Unbelievable how a Cortez took a small group of conquistadors and was able to subdue the Aztec empire of Montezuma. Of course, he couldnt have done it without the help of neighboring groups who hated the Aztecs and also with a lot of deceit & trickery.
It is an enlightening book, my dad had originally recommended it to me many years ago.
If you havent read “The DeSoto Chronicles” then I would urge you to do so. I have the 2 volume set. It’s a compilation from several authors of DeSoto’s expedition thru the southern US.
In addition, there is “The LaSalle Expedition To Texas.”
The first-hand account of Henri Joutel.
Both great reads in the same genre as Bernal’s.
Do you know of any?
Who is the author for the DeSoto Chronicles? My searches are not finding the book.
Also available here for free
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32474/32474-h/32474-h.htm
Fascinating read.
A different translation. I expect to read it.
I searched for a first-hand account of Coronado’s and came up empty as well.
As far as the DeSoto Chronicles - it’s a compilation of several authors who wrote of the expedition after the fact.
These books are recent translations of the four major accounts of the De Soto expedition - the Gentleman of Elvas, Luys Hernandez de Biedma, Rodrigo Ranjel, and Garcilaso de la Vega, based on the account of the soldier Gonzalo Silvestre.
I dont believe it would truly qualify as a ‘first-hand account’ except there are short portions included from those who participated.
The 2 volume set I acquired from Amazon -
https://www.amazon.com/Soto-Chronicles-Expedition-Hernando-1539-1543/dp/0817308245
I read the book last year. It was well worth the time.
I got the book for 1$ at the library. The library has a room stocked with discards and donations. I read a lot and get books there. It has led me to areas I would not have considered and I am much the better for it. I read no fiction any more. just history and historical fiction. I have read about the Gulf War in books by each of the commanders participating, and I have read about the CIA from the viewpoints of 5 different men who were involved directly and peripherally between inception and near present That set has given me insight into the causes and conduct of the Vietnam War among other things.
One observation in the book is that the crossbowmen were scarier and more effective than the musketeers. The Mexicans got used to the noise of the muskets quickly but the crossbows reloaded much faster and actually had more effective range.
Yeah, library sales are good spots to search for bargain deals.
I dont read fiction either. I was always a nut for books dealing with history. I have found a few good ‘historical fiction’ books. The first that comes to mind is the Saxon Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell.
that’s historical biography, not historical fiction. That’s a glitch in getting in a hurry.
I suspect that the Aztec ritual of eating the beating heart of a sacrificial victim was at least in part a consequence of the consumption of peyote, common among the priestly class in ancient Mexico. The self-justification and detachment necessary to perpetrate such ritual abominations were consequent to the sense of inviolable certainty and purpose psychedelic drugs do elicit.
European knowledge of hallucinogenic cacti from the Western Hemisphere was first published in 1570 Spain in the Florentine Codex. Again I suspect that its usage was not uncommon among the aristocratic class of Europe since that time, only later filtering down to the artistic community as is suggested in French impressionism.
Another recommendation. You might check out the first hand account of Cabeza de Vaca. It’s not a thick book but it is a fascinating read nonetheless.
https://www.amazon.com/Narrative-Cabeza-Vaca-Alvar-Nunez/dp/080326416X
Bernal Diaz was a very interesting man who wrote the narrative some twenty years after the event. I alway thought one of the more intriguing passages was about the Noche Triste. Apparently, Diaz had what he called “a familiar spirt” which warned him to be ready that night and it saved his life.
Two other books well worth reading are by Thomas Hughes, The Conquest, and one by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America. De Vaca was a conquistador who survived a shipwreck off the east coast of Florida about five years after The Conquest. He then spent the next seven years wandering around from Florida to Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, as a captured slave and finally as a sort of prophet. It reads almost like science fiction, and is available in PDF for free on the internet.
Seems ripe for a reprint.
I bet you can find it much cheaper if you do some searching - ebay, etc.
I never came close to paying that much for any book.
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