The Conquest of New Spain (Penguin Classics)

There are very close ties between this work and the author's life. There was nothing else he could have written. His heart was spilling over with it. Chroniclers would write of the Peru campaigns, campaigns against Turkey, Flanders or Italy, of strangers fighting strangers. Diaz del Castillo wrote about his life and about the land where he placed it at risk countless times. That is what makes his work unique, superior to the writings of historians for the perfect spontaneity of his testimony. He is the unknown soldier, the sweating troops bearing their arms and spoils, walking alongside the chief's mount; through him, they were given a voice, immortality. Pen in hand, he became the great adventurer, with the same fury as when he wielded his sword, with the faith that made his companions envision St James slaughtering Indians in the name of the Lord. He left us the conquest, fresh and bloody, gasping for all eternity.


Blood and Gold   February 28, 2003
GHT
16 out of 21 found this review helpful

I bought this book while on vacation in Mexico. A friend of mine had told me to read it before I went there, and I now know why.

In Oaxaca, I was struck by the beautiful old churches, some dating from the 1500s, that seem to be every other block. As a Catholic, I am used to blood with my Jesus and my saints, but these churches were overwhelmed by it. Along with the red paint though, was the gilt, representing the riches that lured the Conquistadores to the New World.

Diaz's account is thorough, and detached, given the gore, the wars, and the grand and terrible horrors and majesties that he encountered as a captain for Cortes. This quest for gold becomes a war between Christian soldiers and (sometimes) peaceful cannibals, between noble savages and savage nobles, between the old world an old new world, between ways of living very differently lived.

Diaz is not a historian. He is an excellent reporter though. His report is incredible, and true.

His eyewitness accounts of the temples stacked with torsos, red to the ceilings with blood - the grandeur of Mexico City - listening to captured friends being sacrificed to the gods - Cortes' cynical manipulation of tribal conflicts - are a fascinating read.


The soldier's tale   May 16, 2004
events3
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Governor of Santiago de Guatemala, wrote his account of the conquest of Mexico while an old man because he felt that many of the works concerning the conflict were little more than de facto hagiographies of Hernando Cortes. Considering his feelings regarding the then-published writings of Bartolome de Las Casas, it is probable that he was equally concerned with rebutting the latter's colorful account of the conquest. Diaz's account is straight-forward and without literary pretensions, presenting a pleasing contrast to the smoother narrative of Cortes' letters and the unbridled passion of Las Casas' BRIEF ACCOUNT. In other words, it makes for quite pleasurable and interesting reading!

One of the recurring themes is how the Spaniards are treated by non-Aztecans as they travel toward Mexico City. Many of the states which were more distant from Montezuma's capital were quick to side with the Spaniards in the hopes of throwing off the Mexican yoke and ending their military threat. When the Spaniards appeared to be successful and strong, their allies became more committed to them and when they were shown to be vulnerable their allies began to question the basis of loyalty to the new occupiers. Once the Spaniards gained the upper hand, numerous subject peoples, finding that the Aztecan soldiers were no longer able to rape and plunder them or take their sons & daughters to be sacrificed, began seeking the aid of the Spaniards and providing them with support. Throughout, the Tlascalans were their most powerful and consistent allies (and were quickest to adopt the faith of the apparently powerful Christian divinity).

Arriving at Cholula, a client-state of the Aztecs, the soldiers are nearly massacred and determine to make an example of the Cholulans in order to prevent similar occurrences by others who might be pressed to kill the Spaniards to please Montezuma. Here we see an account which is fairly similar to that of Cortes as provided in his letters (which is not always the case) and which differs markedly from the 2nd- or 3rd-hand account by Las Casas in his BRIEF ACCOUNT. After the leaders who attempted to get rid of the Spanish occupiers were killed (and Cortes was finally able to end the atrocities of his Tlascalan allies), Cortes forced a peace agreement on the Tlascalans and the Cholulans and the populace of the city soon returned. Briefly mentioning Las Casas' BRIEF ACCOUNT, Diaz points out that the Franciscans personally visited the area and determined that Diaz's (and Cortes') account - and not Las Casas' - was consistent with the statements of the natives.

In Mexico City, the Spaniards were treated well as Montezuma and his advisors debated what to do with the newcomers. They were allowed their own place to worship and were fed and clothed by the Mexicans. Finding themselves trapped in the city with an inceasingly hostile population (which had found that the Spaniards were vulnerable) and indications that they were in danger, they took Montezuma into custody. This combined with attempts to force the local populace to conform to less violent religious practices pushed much of the Mexican secular and religious leadership, as well as the populace, into a more hostile mode. Violence escalated, a new leader was chosen by the Aztecs & Montezuma was killed by darts and stones thrown at him and his Spanish captors. The Spaniards manage to escape the city, then return with a large number of allies from the peoples formerly subjected by Montezuma and his recent ancestors. After a violent conflict which severely damaged the once beautiful city of Mexico, the Spaniards win the day. In the process, Cortes privately has the new Aztec leader, Guatomoc tortured to give up his treasury (which Cortes wants to keep largely for himself).

This informative and fairly dispassionate account of the conquest is gritty, realistic and deliberately shows the best and the worst of the Spaniards, the Aztecs and the subjected peoples who saw the coming of the Spaniards as a means of liberation from Aztec oppression.


Amazing and Compelling   February 20, 2001
Gerald Ford (The Jack n' the Box at the corner)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

I really enjoyed reading this book for several reasons. Generally Bernal Diaz has been criticized for his bias in writing about what happened in the conquest of New Spain. However, on closer inspection, you find that he is genuine is his feelings and attitude about the events. He is not the most eloquent writer (afterall he is a soldier, and nearly 80 when writing), but he just writes what he saw.

Anyhow, in regards to the format of this book, I think Penguin did a good job editing the sections and summarizing the sections that detracted from the story. What you are left with are the essential parts of Bernal Diaz's text, and with it, and exciting story of a small band of Conquistadors who took on a huge empire and won.

I felt that I also learned a great deal about the Aztecs themselves from this book. Bernal, when writing, was very attendant to detail, and really painted a fascinating picture of a culture entirely seperate from the Old World, but no less grand.

I definitely recommend this book. There is simply no better way to find out what happened when Spain came to the New World than from the eyes of a Conquistador who was there.


The most exciting book I have read!   August 25, 1998
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

Thrilling, awesome, gripping, vulgar, banal, legendary, disgusting, and overwhelmingly compelling. From one battle to the next - 50,000 Mexican warriors pitted against 400 Spaniards - we are revolted by the canabalism of the indigenous peoples, but drawn to their courage and valor. We feel the betrayal and the deceptions of Cortez, but are made aware of his bravery and his honest desire to end human sacrifice. In every page of this book lies the plots and the characters for a single Spielberg movie. But no movie, no adventure, no science fiction, and no goth novel can even come close to Bernal Diaz' first hand account of the initial defeat and final conquest of New Spain.