In his HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO and its companion volume, the HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF PERU, William Prescott achieves the remarkable feat of portraying the action and adventures of the Spanish cavaliers in a highly readable format for those with little prior knowledge of the Conquests. In HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO, Prescott provides an excellent account of the origin and nature of Mexican civilization at the time of the conquest, describing how the Aztecs dominated the many races of Mexico with savage brutality, indulging in regular human sacrifices. He then goes on to describe the key player in this adventure, Hernando Cortes, and how he and a small party of cavaliers overcame overwhelming odds to defeat the armies of the Aztecs. While it is impossible not to admire the genius of Cortes, the reader is left in no doubt that the Spaniards were motivated by the promise of Aztec gold and not by the desire to spread the word of God to the heathen. However, Prescott excuses the means by which Cortes overthrew the Aztec empire as it put an end to the Aztec practice of human sacrifice. Still the best history of its kind ever published. Originally published in three volumes in 1843.