This revised edition includes discussions of pre-Columbian central Mexico and the Spanish conquest of Mexico, as well as an examination of new trends in the fast-changing field of Mayan studies. Using recent scholarship and discoveries, the authors have also expanded the sections on the historical background of the Spanish conquistadors, and the social, religious and cultural history of Mexico's colonial period, with a particular emphasis on its impact on women and indigenous cultures. Recent research on the events and social grievances which led up to the independence movement are examined as well. This book is intended for upper level undergraduates in courses on Mexican history and Chicano studies.