This pioneering work examines the Conquest of Mexico from the first Spanish movement into the New World to the fall of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Most historians necessarily depend on first-hand Spanish accounts, which has led to a highly distorted -- and essentially implausible -- view of the Conquest as a near-miraculous victory for European cultural, spiritual and technological superiority. Professor Hassig reintroduces the Indians into their own history, showing that it was crucially their goals, organization and internal divisions that were responsible for the Aztec defeat. Vivid and engrossing, this book (launching a major new series) will prove as rewarding to general readers as to specialists.