Rating: 
Summary: Amazing and Compelling
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing History, Bland Style
Review: I've wanted to read this book since doing, 'The European Empires Overseas' course at Macquarie Uni. You could see the lecturer still got a buzz talking about pirates on the high seas and the like, and he recommended this incredible recollection of Diaz', a soldier who served with Cortes (this translation's spelling) in the early 1500s, surviving two expeditions from Cuba onto the mainland near Mexico beforehand, and the amazing one afterwards where Cortes, with a few hundred soldiers against tens of thousands of locals, manages to eventually capture (and destroy) the enormously rich and established capital.
The style of the book is, consciously, not that of an accomplished writer. Diaz actually abandoned his reminiscences, but resumed them upon reading other accounts that were more stylish but less accurate (he was actually there). There are a hundred scenes and characters in his pages that could be gloriously presented for drama, humour, nobility, tragedy, last minute relief, action, philosophical/ethical debate ... but he just notes things down in a very bland style. But since the content itself is so wild - and (pretty much) factual, you are still interested. Someone else could write (and probably has) a cracking book based on Diaz' facts, but the liberties they'd have to take would probably still leave it as less than the original.
This is not to say that Diaz doesn't have biases. However there is a naivety in his writing so that even when, for example, he may be exaggerating just how constantly pious the soldiers were in risking their own lives to oppose the local practise of human sacrifice, you are still well aware of the utter spiritual conviction of the Conquistadors. And they don't hide their lust for gold. Or even for women - somehow they see no contradiction between their Christianity and accepting or even taking local women as wives or concubines. Cortes accepts several it seems, impregnating the odd one - and this is not seen as needing any defence or apology despite him having a Spanish wife at home. There's no need to mistrust much of what he says, because he's not writing to try to appease a modern audience. Rather he's writing for his peers, people with the same convictions as himself, so he's not trying to hide attitudes that he assumes of everyone.
But this is much of the game with this text. Everyone now will bring their judgements to it. The most common one students would make today I imagine would be outright condemnation: the Spaniards were nothing more than a (slightly) more organised and resourced bunch of pirates, exploiting the innocent locals for gold, causing massive loss of life, and forcing their own absurd religious beliefs on a populace with their own highly developed religion. And in a lot of ways they would be absolutely right. Yet, for me as a Christian, I can't utterly condemn these guys who did consistently (and strategically unwisely - regarding questing for gold and militarily guaranteeing their own survival) witness to the locals. Cortes regularly risks his own safety by challenging their idolatry and practise of human sacrifice. The latter is condemned as 'we're all brothers'. Yet while there was respect shown for the Indians, they were seen as second class - the death of an Indian wasn't seen as nearly as significant as that of a Spaniard. Moreover the move was always towards the best the Indians could hope for was to end up as vassals. But there are contradictions: Diaz earlier condemns someone for contemplating the evil idea of enslaving free men - who were Indians. Yet some Indians who opposed them in battle were branded as slaves.
Were the Indians better or worse off after the invasion? Some of them benefited because Mexico was the superpower extracting a brutal tribute of women and riches - the conquistadors capitalised on those disaffected (Cortes was overjoyed when he heard that there was opposition to Montezuma). But it was hardly a simple thing of walking in, blasting off a gun, pointing to your strangely white skin, and having the locals worship you and hand over all their gold. Before they gained any local backing they had to fight against much greater numbers. Their artillery, steel and cavalry helped, of course - but it was hardly a carefully researched, resourced and executed invasion. It was actually a big mess, with courageous/greedy/rash people just grabbing at a half-chance to improve their lot.
This was the edge of the empire - pioneer country. The rule of law was pretty thin here. Cortes barely managed to get the backing to put together a small fleet, and he charged out ASAP because he knew the backing would falter at any time (it did, and the governor declared him an outlaw almost as soon as he'd left). Cortes knew he had to make good his chance so that even the king of Spain was impressed, or return to be put in chains. Thus after some very narrow victories when the sensible thing would be to count your blessings, return to base to discuss sensible approaches in the light of much new knowledge, and replenish men and resources ... Cortes torches the fleet! This way no-one CAN turn back and change alliances, they're stuck with Cortes and must be loyal to have any chance of surviving.
I'm talking virtually all plot now, but this is History much more than a novel. As a novel it's very poorly written. The thing is essentially content.
Back to the question - were the Indians better off? Well, many just exchanged one oppressor for another (that's History say many). But as a Christian, many did learn the truth and were delivered from idolatry (or, in their corrupted version of Christianity, exchanged one idol for another). The human sacrifice practice would have been greatly reduced or even halted. I suppose you'd have to read about the next couple of hundred years to know.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing History, Bland Style
Review: I've wanted to read this book since doing, `The European Empires Overseas' course at Macquarie Uni. You could see the lecturer still got a buzz talking about pirates on the high seas and the like, and he recommended this incredible recollection of Diaz', a soldier who served with Cortes (this translation's spelling) in the early 1500s, surviving two expeditions from Cuba onto the mainland near Mexico beforehand, and the amazing one afterwards where Cortes, with a few hundred soldiers against tens of thousands of locals, manages to eventually capture (and destroy) the enormously rich and established capital.
The style of the book is, consciously, not that of an accomplished writer. Diaz actually abandoned his reminiscences, but resumed them upon reading other accounts that were more stylish but less accurate (he was actually there). There are a hundred scenes and characters in his pages that could be gloriously presented for drama, humour, nobility, tragedy, last minute relief, action, philosophical/ethical debate ... but he just notes things down in a very bland style. But since the content itself is so wild - and (pretty much) factual, you are still interested. Someone else could write (and probably has) a cracking book based on Diaz' facts, but the liberties they'd have to take would probably still leave it as less than the original.
This is not to say that Diaz doesn't have biases. However there is a naivety in his writing so that even when, for example, he may be exaggerating just how constantly pious the soldiers were in risking their own lives to oppose the local practise of human sacrifice, you are still well aware of the utter spiritual conviction of the Conquistadors. And they don't hide their lust for gold. Or even for women - somehow they see no contradiction between their Christianity and accepting or even taking local women as wives or concubines. Cortes accepts several it seems, impregnating the odd one - and this is not seen as needing any defence or apology despite him having a Spanish wife at home. There's no need to mistrust much of what he says, because he's not writing to try to appease a modern audience. Rather he's writing for his peers, people with the same convictions as himself, so he's not trying to hide attitudes that he assumes of everyone.
But this is much of the game with this text. Everyone now will bring their judgements to it. The most common one students would make today I imagine would be outright condemnation: the Spaniards were nothing more than a (slightly) more organised and resourced bunch of pirates, exploiting the innocent locals for gold, causing massive loss of life, and forcing their own absurd religious beliefs on a populace with their own highly developed religion. And in a lot of ways they would be absolutely right. Yet, for me as a Christian, I can't utterly condemn these guys who did consistently (and strategically unwisely - regarding questing for gold and militarily guaranteeing their own survival) witness to the locals. Cortes regularly risks his own safety by challenging their idolatry and practise of human sacrifice. The latter is condemned as `we're all brothers'. Yet while there was respect shown for the Indians, they were seen as second class - the death of an Indian wasn't seen as nearly as significant as that of a Spaniard. Moreover the move was always towards the best the Indians could hope for was to end up as vassals. But there are contradictions: Diaz earlier condemns someone for contemplating the evil idea of enslaving free men - who were Indians. Yet some Indians who opposed them in battle were branded as slaves.
Were the Indians better or worse off after the invasion? Some of them benefited because Mexico was the superpower extracting a brutal tribute of women and riches - the conquistadors capitalised on those disaffected (Cortes was overjoyed when he heard that there was opposition to Montezuma). But it was hardly a simple thing of walking in, blasting off a gun, pointing to your strangely white skin, and having the locals worship you and hand over all their gold. Before they gained any local backing they had to fight against much greater numbers. Their artillery, steel and cavalry helped, of course - but it was hardly a carefully researched, resourced and executed invasion. It was actually a big mess, with courageous/greedy/rash people just grabbing at a half-chance to improve their lot.
This was the edge of the empire - pioneer country. The rule of law was pretty thin here. Cortes barely managed to get the backing to put together a small fleet, and he charged out ASAP because he knew the backing would falter at any time (it did, and the governor declared him an outlaw almost as soon as he'd left). Cortes knew he had to make good his chance so that even the king of Spain was impressed, or return to be put in chains. Thus after some very narrow victories when the sensible thing would be to count your blessings, return to base to discuss sensible approaches in the light of much new knowledge, and replenish men and resources ... Cortes torches the fleet! This way no-one CAN turn back and change alliances, they're stuck with Cortes and must be loyal to have any chance of surviving.
I'm talking virtually all plot now, but this is History much more than a novel. As a novel it's very poorly written. The thing is essentially content.
Back to the question - were the Indians better off? Well, many just exchanged one oppressor for another (that's History say many). But as a Christian, many did learn the truth and were delivered from idolatry (or, in their corrupted version of Christianity, exchanged one idol for another). The human sacrifice practice would have been greatly reduced or even halted. I suppose you'd have to read about the next couple of hundred years to know.
Rating:
Summary: Bernal in the eyes of Luis Cardoza y Aragón.....
Review: Let me share with you one of the most beautiful reveiws of Bernal's epic, writen by the great Guatemalan writer and poet Luis Cardoza y Aragón (from his book "Guatemala: The Lines of Her Palm", translated into English by Michelle Suderman): I started leafing through The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico at my student's desk, at night by lamplight. I skimmed summaries, the odd page, then began my reading in an orderly fashion. Tirelessly, I penetrated further and further into the enchanted forest, mesmerized by the story and by this encounter with my warrior culture, with the conquest. I was entering a distant and fascinating world. I witnessed and experienced the legendary campaign. I saw and heard it. I smelled its odor of iron, gunpowder and tired bodies. I was awed by the descriptions of Tenochtitlan, the markets and Moctezuma's court. The blood looked fresh on the steps of the pyramids. As Humboldt points out, the exhilaration of a newly discovered world is better transmitted by chroniclers than by poets. My first contact with this work was positively prodigious. Exhaustion came after reading for many hours without being able to stop. Captivated by descriptions and memories, I kept going, reading a little more, just a little more. I finally left off when the light of the new day began singing in my window. This is the most comprehensive work on the conquest of America, though it speaks only of New Spain. It contains a wealth of information, and details of all orders, that we do not find in posterior writings on related events-not even adding them together. It was written in Antigua Guatemala, where Díaz del Castillo took up residence in 1545 at the age of forty-nine, and where he died in 1584 after having lived there for about thirty-nine years. He was an old man when he wrote his Discovery and Conquest, nearly half a century after the siege of Mexico Tenochtitlan and the conquest of Guatemala. Bernal Díaz del Castillo's chronicle is the most important and engaging of all, the most truthful and comprehensive account of the conquest of America. He wrote it not only in his quest for truth, to refute the chronicles of Cortés's chaplain, Gómara, and his followers, but out of a need to relive the conquest, out of the same hunger that engendered Don Quixote in Cervantes. Old wounds were opened as he wrote: he himself confesses that he slept with his arms loaded, and that in his old age, he slept fully dressed, accustomed to the exhausting days he spent in Mexico. He was twice conqueror, but the true conquest was the one he carried out seated at his desk, still wearing armor, but no longer wielding the saber. 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. Díaz 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.
Rating:
Summary: Complete acount of the conquest of Mexico by the Spanish.
Review: Review by Tom rederiksen - http://members.aol.com/spdtom/index.html - AZTEC STUDENT TEACHER RESOURCE CENTER: Diaz is an accomplished writer and I was impressed with his attention to detail as it related to the daily life and inter-personal relationships between the Conquistadors. This is a fairly long book but reads easily and anyone that enjoys a good adventure or mystery novel will find this an interesting book. As there are precious few first hand accounts from this time period, this first hand narrative is a must read for anyone getting started in the study of the Mexican conquest time period.
This book was written rather late in life by the author. Supposedly, Diaz read a copy of a book by Lopez de Gomara, Chronicle of the Conquest of New Spain, and was so outraged by references to "Cortes this", and "Cortes that", that the old soldier penned this classic. Were it not for the work of Diaz, the world would not have a comprehensive record of the conquest. A must read.
Rating:
Summary: The Best to Date on the Subject
Review: The Conquest of New Spain, by Bernal Diaz is perhaps the best telling of the events that followed the untimely arrival of Hernan Cortez and his band of Conquistadors in Mexico. Diaz himself was one of those conquistadors, and although his takes on what happened are not without bias, they are nevertheless very informative. When you finish reading this book you will have a near perfect understanding of what happened to the Aztec Empire in Mexico.
This book gets the highest recommendation possible.
Rating:
Summary: The Best to Date on the Subject
Review: The Conquest of New Spain, by Bernal Diaz is perhaps the best telling of the events that followed the untimely arrival of Hernan Cortez and his band of Conquistadors in Mexico. Diaz himself was one of those conquistadors, and although his takes on what happened are not without bias, they are nevertheless very informative. When you finish reading this book you will have a near perfect understanding of what happened to the Aztec Empire in Mexico.
This book gets the highest recommendation possible.
Rating:
Summary: The Voyage of Hernando Cortes
Review: This was a pretty good book. It was very informative. It may be unsuitable for younger readers, but I found it inriching.
Rating:
Summary: The most exciting book I have read!
Review: 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.
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