
When Montezuma Met Cortes
The True Story of the Meeting That Changed History
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Narrated by:
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Steven Crossley
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By:
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Matthew Restall
A dramatic rethinking of the encounter between Montezuma and Hernando Cortés that completely overturns what we know about the Spanish conquest of the Americas
On November 8, 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés first met Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, at the entrance to the capital city of Tenochtitlan. This introduction - the prelude to the Spanish seizure of Mexico City and to European colonization of the mainland of the Americas - has long been the symbol of Cortés' bold and brilliant military genius. Montezuma, on the other hand, is remembered as a coward who gave away a vast empire and touched off a wave of colonial invasions across the hemisphere.
But is this really what happened? In a departure from traditional tellings, When Montezuma Met Cortés uses "the Meeting" - as Restall dubs their first encounter - as the entry point into a comprehensive reevaluation of both Cortés and Montezuma. Drawing on rare primary sources and overlooked accounts by conquistadors and Aztecs alike, Restall explores Cortés' and Montezuma's posthumous reputations, their achievements and failures, and the worlds in which they lived - leading, step by step, to a dramatic inversion of the old story. As Restall takes us through this sweeping, revisionist account of a pivotal moment in modern civilization, he calls into question our view of the history of the Americas and, indeed, of history itself.
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But the narrator detracted from an otherwise exceptional work by the constant annoying addition of unnecessary “r”s at the end of words like “Montezuma-r, Tlatelolco-r, and Texcoco-r and such.
Very distracting.
Exceptional history-changing book marred by distracting narrator
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The narration was very good except it was a bit sluggish for my taste. I sped it up a notch, and that helped a lot. For this subject, I may have sought someone with a Mexican or Spanish accent instead of British, but his pronunciation of all the varied names, places and events seemed very good to me. It's worth a listen of you're interested in this topic.
Great History Lesson
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Boring
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Restall's thoroughly researched book does two things brilliantly. One, he shows us, through what must have been an exhaustive reading of every narrative ever written about the Conquest since it happened more than 500 years ago, HOW the story became shaped and WHY it's been so hard to dislodge, even today. And two, he broadens our view of those events between 1519-1521 as they actually unfolded in the real world of Mesoamerican politics, a world Cortés had little insight into (his two translators notwithstanding), and even less control over.
There is a lot of underlying humor in the book as Restall highlights some of the more absurd reimaginings various authors came up with recreating the narrative. I found myself chuckling many times as I listened to the book. I thought the narration was terrific, spot on.
A much-needed revision to Conquest of Mexico story
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The voice artist’s reading the audiobook may make the author seem a little more haughty and matter-of-fact then he intended when writing the book. So I’m saying my opinion of the author assertions might be interfered with by the readers vocal inflection choices and tone. I would highly recommend you listening for yourself!
Worth reading
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great history of Mexico
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The narrator does a great job of respectfully pronouncing words in languages that are not his own, especially Native languages, in this case, mostly Náhuatl.
Highly recommend this title, I listen to it regularly.
A refreshing take on a world changing event
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If you love updates to histories you thought you knew, this book is for you.
Proper Correction of a Washed History
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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
It is still good for people who love history, but too dry for those that just want a good story.What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
Like British historical writers, the book is a little too dry. I mean, a small group of soldiers walked into Mexico and toppled a civilization in a short period of time. Shouldn't that be interesting? Would that be siding with Cortes if more imagery and a more sweeping story were presented?What about Steven Crossley’s performance did you like?
It is my American exceptionalism here, but the word 'war' is very short and has an 'a' in it. Why is it the English way to pronounce it as a dramatic version of 'wore'?Any additional comments?
The writer has made this his life's work, which I absolutely respect. But he gets too carried away with some issues that do not seem to make sense. Such as:- The Aztecs were a wonderful, sophisticated society, who only heinously killed some people, and not everyone like we were led to believe, and their use of slavery was apparently okay.
-It was the brilliant Montezuma that outsmarted the conquistadors and baited them perfectly into his trap. Silly conquistadors.
-Since record keeping was so great in the Caribbean in the early 1500's, we know that Cortes was a nobody whose only talent was his ability not to die.
-Somehow the United States was inserted into this a few times for negative purposes. What would his native Britain know about colonialism?
-It wasn't 400 Spanish soldiers, more like 2,000 that helped fold the largest civilization in South America...........how unimpressive.
The chapter on slavery was enough condemn Cortes and his fellow conquistadors, the author's other takedowns of Cortes come across as speculative and petty.
I would love to have the author's response to this. Thanks,
Flawed, but worth it for those interested.
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More direct contact with the earliest documents on colonial Mexico
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