What book are you reading at the moment? Part 2

[SERPNTA1267]

That does sound like a good book.
A book I read years ago along the same line is The Conquest of New Spain. Its the autobiography of the royal treasurer who was with Cortez when they first saw Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) and the war to conquered it. Great book!

[Rothgo]

Just finished Matthew Klein's Conned - a fun read, well paced and written but not as cunning as I suspect (hope?) the author would have wished.

[Governor of Rowe Island]

That Soustelle book sounds interesting Gov.
Am away to have a look for it right now.

That does sound like a good book.
A book I read years ago along the same line is The Conquest of New Spain. Its the autobiography of the royal treasurer who was with Cortez when they first saw Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) and the war to conquered it. Great book!

I've also read The Conquest of Mexico by Hugh Thomas (tf, I think you said you'd read it as well?), and the Soustelle book would be the perfect thing to read before that. The Aztecs have always captured my imagination and The Daily Life... has done nothing to lessen that.

[thingfish]

Yeah Gov the Hugh Thomas book as you know is excellent so im looking forward to the Soustelle(ordered it last night!).
Same here on the Aztecs and the Mayans!!

[SERPNTA1267]

I had to go find my copy of The Conquest of New Spain. It is written by Bernal Diaz del Castillo who, when he wrote it, was the last survivor of the Conquerors of Mexico. He wrote it because he felt that the other chroniclers of the period had not represented it accurately.
I think that I'm going to have to read it again. Can't beat a true story of a great adventure!

[thingfish]

Too true Serpnta.
Reading about fictional adventures is great but you cant beat the factual stories!

[Governor of Rowe Island]

We'll have to start a thread, guys! And while we're on the subject, I've got a biography of Drake I'm not sure I've read.

I'll have to read it to make sure.

[SERPNTA1267]

That sounds pretty cool too, Gov. In the area where I grew up there are many things named after the ol' pirate. Schools, streets, beaches to name a few.

[SERPNTA1267]

I must make a correction about The Conquest of New Spain. The writer, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, was not the royal treasurer but the governer of the city of Santiago de Guatemala. I got him slightly confused with Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca who's story is also great.

[thingfish]

Gov,is that Drake book the one by John Sugden?
If so,i highly recommend you put it near the top of your 'to read' list as i found it unputdownable.

[Doc]

I should add Gary Jennings' Aztec to the list of fictional accounts of Aztec life around the time of the conquistedors. I read it years ago, but as I remember it was relatively well researched, if a little too much of an attempt to be a best seller.

[thingfish]

I loved Jennings Aztec books.
Thats the original trilogy though and not so much the later ones that were cobbled together from his notes after he died and pretty much re-hash what he had already wrote.
Well reminded Doc,these are long overdue a re-read!!

[Doc]

I loved Jennings Aztec books.
Thats the original trilogy though and not so much the later ones that were cobbled together from his notes after he died and pretty much re-hash what he had already wrote.
Well reminded Doc,these are long overdue a re-read!!

I once had a well-worn paperback copy of the first novel. I must have read it three or four times, and it is a monster. Funny that I don't remember it all that well. I didn't read the other two, but I had both at one time or another, several moves ago...

Maybe I'll put that on my endless "to buy" list. Then into my nearly as endless "to read" pile. Or maybe my next trip to the library.

[SERPNTA1267]

I started rereading The Conquest of New Spain last night but it looks like I'm puting it down for awhile because I just got my copy of Duke Elric in the mail today. Looks great!

[Governor of Rowe Island]

Tf, the Drake book is by Stephen Coote, and I'm pretty sure I need to read it.

I've read Aztec by Gary Jennings but I didn't realise it was part of a trilogy! I was impressed with the detail in it and after reading the Soustelle book, I'm pretty sure I know where he got it from.

The Conquest of the Inca by John Hemming is another good one.