Conquistadores: A New History of Spanish Discovery and Conquest

Spain conquered the territory of a dozen modern American states and defeated the empires of the Aztecs and Incas. Conquistadors such as Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro are known for their arrogance and greed, but their actions were also driven by medieval ideas about rights and subjects. Many indigenous people also supported the Spanish in their victories. The Mexican historian Fernando Cervantes analyzes sources of that time to separate facts from myths and present a new look at Spanish colonization.