Books about the Spanish Conquest (in English) // Reviews and recommendations //

[@karlalikestoread]

Thank you so much for making such a well thought out and informative recommendations video Mariana! I really appreciate how you decided to structure and analyze everything you wanted to share, it’s super helpful. I ended up learning so much about certain qualities and criteria to look for when reading about history and assessing historians’ writing! I think I'll start with Conquistadors and Aztecs and go from there. All the books you talked about sound interesting and worthwhile in different ways based on your assessments, which will be helpful to keep in mind while reading them.

[@audreyapproved]

Oooo I loved this! I had Fifth Sun and Conquistador by Buddy Levy on my TBR but it kinda sounds like I should start with Conquistadors and Aztecs!

[@marianamasbooks]

I hadn't heard of the Buddy Levy book (or of the author, for that matter!), I'll look into it, I'm always looking for books about the topic written in English (or translated) so that I can recommend them 🤓

[@Obscuros88]

Good list. My favorite being: When Moctezuma met Cortes by Matthew Restall. Excellent book. More than just facts it gives you a good perspective on flawed spanish thinking when they wrote their chronicles. Must read before reading anything else. Most other books use spanish chronicles as their main source. Knowing how distorted those accounts are is important. Runners up: Guns, germs and steel, and 1491, 1493.

[@marianamasbooks]

Im glad we agree! I also think the Restall book is a must 🔥 That’s why the discussion of sources was one of the evaluation criteria 🙌🏼 and why I think Rinke’s introduction is so good, because it clearly explains all the problems with the Spanish sources. (And the post-conquest indigenous sources, which are problematic as well but many people take as fact just because they’re indigenous, without knowledge of the political context). I hadn’t heard of Guns, Germs and Steel, I’ll look it up!

[@Obscuros88]

@@marianamasbooks guns, germs and steel is a big picture perspective of the years you covered in your pocast. excellent and short.

[@marianamasbooks]

@@Obscuros88 thanks for the recommendation!

[@AaronReadABook]

I'm so glad you made this because I'm really interested in this subject since The Rest Is History did their series on it, they have a great respect for Restall but I think they said that his utter hatred of Cortés clouds it a bit if I remember correctly. They really liked Fifth Sun but the author was a guest host so they are friends. The Rinke might be what I'm after!

[@marianamasbooks]

I agree 100% As much as I loved the book (and as much as I'm not a Cortés fan), I did think Restall's lack of Nuance regarding Cortés can diminish his other arguments. Rinke's book is great, I definitely think it's the best introduction to the topic. General enough and specific enough, with great context. I really need to listen to The Rest is History, several people have mentioned it!

[@AaronReadABook]

@@marianamasbooks They did their longest every series on Cortes and it's well worth a listen. They did an earlier Aztec one too with Camilla Townsend. The Rinke book is £22 even on kindle here which is way too much, I will have to look for it at random places or go with Restall which is £3

[@marianamasbooks]

@@AaronReadABook I hate how expensive history books are! 😫 Luckily I didn’t have to buy any of these. I got one through Kindle Unlimited and the other three were available in the audio subscription I use. I’ve been wanting to buy the Restall hardcover for my bookshelf, but I’m waiting for it to be on sale or something 😅

[@ellethinks]

Such a good video! Ive added the Rinke book to my TBR! Have you read/do you have any thoughts on Conquistadores by Fernando Cervantes? I have this in my goodreads tbr, but im always weary of the perspective i may encounter in books like this..

[@marianamasbooks]

I hadn’t heard of that Cervantes book but I just looked it up and it sounds great! It has a blurb by Matthew Restall, which for me now is a guarantee of a perspective I can align with. I’ve added it to my list 🔥