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Title: Conquistadors by Michael Wood ISBN: 0-520-23064-7 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Living History
Comment: Michael Wood on screen and in print has that rare ability to transfer his enthusiasm for his subject to his audience. Here he takes us through the Spanish Conquest of 16th Century Central and South America by journeying to the places where the events occured. Many of them quite off the beaten track and pretty much as they were. In Mexico City he retraces Cortez's seizure of the city with a street by street account through the modern city.
He makes one crucial point that many seem to miss. Cortez and Pizarro did not conquer these nations with a few hundred men as legend would have us believe. They had tens of thousands of native allies who marched with them. These were the unhappy vassal states conquered by the Aztec's and Inca's who basically wanted pay back. In a way he makes us aware of 2 conquests. Those by the Aztecs and Incas over their neighbors and the Spanish Conquest with the help of those neighbors.
The aftermath is also closely examined with the Church's paradoxical role in it. At first brutalizing the native populations and in later years trying to stop it. At first attempting to wipe out all traces of the native cultures and later feverishly trying to preserve it. It is not as simple a tale as some believe and Wood clearly takes the reader through it in this lavishly illustrated volume. At present the TV series that this book was meant to compliment has yet to appear on DVD. Hopefully soon but for now Wood's book shows us how alive history can be and how some of its players are not quite what we think they are.
Rating: 5
Summary: Stolen Continent
Comment: From the moment I started this book I could not put it down until I got to the last page, pausing for thought and burning with anxiety at what had occurred.
There are about five distinctive sections. About two chapters on the Aztecs and the fall of Tenochtitlan. Similarly about the Incas and the end of their rebellion. Then a chapter on the discovery of the Amazon. Another on Spanish explorer Cabeza De Vaca and finally on how the Spanish conquest lead to a human rights debate.
The paintings and illustrations are in colour. The writing is warm, gripping and balanced - A BBC style expose of what was going on (by an underrated BBC TV program) with its brillian author presenter.
If you don't have a clue about how S. America was stolen, this book takes you to the thick of it. To the vanquishing of two entire civilisations and an incomparable destruction by "civilised" Spaniards crazy about gold and converts to Christianity as a pretext for enslaving and abusing their conquered victims.
He sticks to the most important details, the massacres, what made the conquistadors tick?, the heroism, bravery and about confronting "The Other" - a titanic clash of cultures. What indeed could have happened if the Chinese got there first as Woods ruefully inquires?
This book I hope will show Latin Americans in particular the importance of replacing something lost though it can never be regained. Perhaps Mexico city should be given back its original name.
I'd love to have seen a better illustration or two of Tenochtitlan but it is now all gone anyway.
This book is a celebration of those lost golden civilisations with a penchant for human sacrifice.
Rating: 5
Summary: Trekking the paths of the Conquistadors
Comment: This exciting and well illustrated read traces the incredible expeditions of some of the most famous Spainish Conquistadors. Michael Woods travels along the tropical Amazon and to Everglades of Florida in search of the original route of the likes of Cortez and Pizarro. But this is not just an adventure story but also an accurate conveyance of history and the personalities of the time. He also manages to discuss the history on a thematic level - approaching issues such as human rights and colonialism. The illustrations are beautiful and add to the sense of wonder first experienced when viewed for the first time from European eyes.
5 stars - thoroughly worth purchasing for any history buff!
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Title: In Search of the Dark Ages by Michael Wood ISBN: 0816047022 Publisher: Checkmark Books Pub. Date: July, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: In Search of the Trojan War by Michael Wood ISBN: 0520215990 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: May, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.05 |
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Title: In Search of England: Journeys into the English Past by Michael Wood ISBN: 0520232186 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 06 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: CONQUEST: CORTES, MONTEZUMA, AND THE FALL OF OLD MEXICO by Hugh Thomas ISBN: 0671511041 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 07 April, 1995 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title:The Conquistadors With Michael Wood ASIN: B00005I9P0 Publisher: PBS Home Video Pub. Date: 15 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $29.98 |
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