The Conquest of New Spain

I love this book because on the one hand it tells an incredible story of adventurous derring-do – how a few hundred men conquered a vast empire – and other hand is a testimony to the brutality and savagery that accompanied European colonization.

Diaz is crucial to understanding our present condition. I admire it because it helps us to understand why Europe emerged as the most important region in world history and reminds us of the terrible consequences that conquest had for indigenous people.

Bernal Díaz was a foot soldier who accompanied Hernando Cortés on his conquest of Mexico.

When he was an old man, he wrote an account of what he remembered. And he remembered a lot! In another era, I believe this man would have become a writer rather than a conquistador! He weaves events together so well that I often felt as though I were there beside him.

It is rare that one can pick up a book that was written hundreds of years ago and truly enjoy it—but this is one of those times.