| Maya Conquistador Contributor(s): Restall, Matthew (Author) |
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ISBN: 0807055077 ISBN-13: 9780807055076 Publisher: Beacon Press OUR PRICE: $21.78 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 1999 Annotation: The real story of the Mayan encounter with the Spanish, based on newly revealed eyewitness accounts Our familiar images of Mexico's conquest are powerful and enduring: bold and bloodthirsty Spanish conquistadors; nobly savage Aztecs lamenting their broken bones and spears; the battles of Cortes and Montezuma; enormous pyramids and exquisite gold and jade ornaments unearthed in "the land of the sun." But one story has not yet been told--and it is one that could reshape our entire vision of the conquest. It is the story of the Spanish creation of a colony in the Yucatan, home of the Maya since ancient times. Maya Conquistador tells this tale through a collection of unique firsthand accounts--most of them previously untranslated from the original Mayan hieroglyphs--written from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. In it are surprising twists: the conquistadors are not Spaniards, but Mayas reconstructing their own sophisticated governance and society; and the conquest is not one event, but a story of the survival of a vital and complex civilization evolving over centuries of contact with the Spanish and other peoples. Out of this new chapter in history, the Maya emerge not as passive victims of the Spanish, but as astute observers of their own past and participants in a rich tradition of cultural resilience. Their story is exciting reading to all who are fascinated by the Maya, and it offers rare insight to anthropologists, historians, and students of Mayan and Mexican civilization. "The author's scholarly introduction puts the texts in proper perspective, making this a book for both specialists and anyone interested in ancient civilizations." |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Latin America - Mexico - History | Civilization |
| Dewey: 972.02 |
| LCCN: 98015751 |
| Physical Information: 0.68" H x 5.97" W x 9.07" (0.87 lbs) 272 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Latin America - Cultural Region - Mexican |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Exploring firsthand accounts written by Maya nobles from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries-many of them previously untranslated-Restall offers the first Maya account of the conquest. The story holds surprising twists: The conquistadors were not only Spaniards but also Mayas, reconstructing their own governance and society, and the Spanish colonization of the Yucatan was part of an ongoing pattern of adaptation and survival for centuries. |