With startling speed, Spanish conquistadors invaded hundreds of Native American kingdoms, took over the mighty empires of the Aztecs and Incas, and initiated an unprecedented redistribution of the world's resources and balance of power. They changed the course of history, but the myth they established was even stranger than their real achievements. This Very Short Introduction deploys the latest scholarship to shatter and replace the traditional narrative....

Delves into the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler who was born as Temudgin in 1162. Follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny. Shows the future conqueror and revealing him not as the evil brute, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader.

"A sweeping, authoritative history of 16th-century Spain and its legendary conquistadors, whose ambitious and morally contradictory campaigns propelled a small European kingdom to become one of the formidable empires in the world "The depth of research in this book is astonishing, but even more impressive is the analytical skill Cervantes applies. . . . [He] conveys complex arguments in delightfully simple language, and most importantly knows how...

Explores the life and exploits of Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Inca Empire and with a combination of trickery, treachery, and brutality, went on to plunder the Inca's riches and exploit the people for his own gain.

A biography of the explorer whose brutal conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico was responsible for the first Spanish settlements in the New World.

An introduction to the life of Hernando Cortés, the Spanish explorer who discovered Baja California and explored the Pacific coast of Mexico, but who is best remembered for conquering the Aztec Empire.

History reports that the mighty Inca were swiftly wiped out by a small band of Conquistadors, but new evidence is being unearthed that may help rewrite history. Uncovered remains of those who died in battle along with recently discovered documents suggest that even after forming military alliances with thousands of Indian mercenaries, it took the Spanish many years to defeat the Inca Empire.