History is sometimes almost unbelievable and the story of how Cortez conquered Mexico is an example of this. I have read many accounts of the historic saga but the very best is the book “Conquistador” by Buddy Levy published in 2008.

The fly leaf of the book states that: “In an astonishing work of scholarship that reads like an adventure thriller, historian Buddy Levy records the last days of the Aztec empire and the two men at the center of an epic clash of cultures.” Just this is enough to make you want to pick up the book and dig in. But for me, living in the area where the action took place makes it an even more enticing introduction.

Cortez landed along the Mexican coast near the modern port city of Veracruz with an unbelievably small crew for the undertaking that he was about to embark upon. His goal was to expand the Spanish Empire which he eventually achieved through a mixture of cunning, courage, brutality and spirituality. He was a master at manipulating situations and turning them to his advantage. He carried out atrocities in the name of religion and did not see the parallel to the rituals and beliefs of the Aztecs. He was truly offended by the gruesome rites of human sacrifice practiced by the Aztecs and was determined to replace their religious beliefs with his own and yet he repeatedly massacred whole populations in the name of his god.

This book describes the strange relationship that developed between Montezuma, the King of the Aztecs, and Cortez, an adventurer looking for wealth and fame. Montezuma was a proud spiritual leader who was totally bamboozled by Cortez. These Spaniards were different looking, fought differently, had strange animals (horses) that frightened the local populace, and had a different belief system but the fact that Cortez was taken for a god proved to be the ruin of the great civilization of the Aztecs.

Since I live in the region where Cortez landed and passed though on his way to the Kingdom of Tenochtitlan I have been fascinated by visiting some of the places described by Levy. La Antigua today is a sleepy village where the townsfolk will verify that this is the original landing site of Cortez’s fleet of boats. Here also is the ruin of what would eventually be the Customs House built by the Spaniards and where a canyon from the fleet still stands guard. Further north up the coast are the ruins known as Zempoala. This was a Totonac tribe who gave their support to Cortez and housed and cared for his men as they would retreat there after battles. The route that Cortez took to reach Mexico City passes though Jalapa, Coatepec and Xico and has been described in accounts of the time (1519).

How in the world Cortez and his men survived is anyone’s guess. Levy describes in detail military battles in which Cortez was outnumbered thousands to one and which ended up in victory for Cortez. In less than two years Cortez defeated the entire Aztec nation, leaving most of the populace dead from either battle or disease.

If you want to curl up with a book that provides a sweeping and majestic account of a clash of civilizations that reshaped the New World, then this is a must read! Put it on your summer reading list.