Fifth Sun
A New History of the Aztecs
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12 177 Ft
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Estimated delivery time: Expected time of arrival: end of January 2026.
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Product details:
- Publisher OUP USA
- Date of Publication 9 January 2020
- ISBN 9780190673062
- Binding Hardback
- No. of pages336 pages
- Size 236x157x30 mm
- Weight 644 g
- Language English
- Illustrations 30 halftones 27
Categories
Short description:
Fifth Sun offers a comprehensive history of the Aztecs, spanning the period before conquest to a century after the conquest, based on rarely-used Nahuatl-language sources written by the indigenous people.
MoreLong description:
In November 1519, Hernando Cortés walked along a causeway leading to the capital of the Aztec kingdom and came face to face with Moctezuma. That story--and the story of what happened afterwards--has been told many times, but always following the narrative offered by the Spaniards. After all, we have been taught, it was the Europeans who held the pens. But the Native Americans were intrigued by the Roman alphabet and, unbeknownst to the newcomers, they used it to write detailed histories in their own language of Nahuatl. Until recently, these sources remained obscure, only partially translated, and rarely consulted by scholars.
For the first time, in Fifth Sun, the history of the Aztecs is offered in all its complexity based solely on the texts written by the indigenous people themselves. Camilla Townsend presents an accessible and humanized depiction of these native Mexicans, rather than seeing them as the exotic, bloody figures of European stereotypes. The conquest, in this work, is neither an apocalyptic moment, nor an origin story launching Mexicans into existence. The Mexica people had a history of their own long before the Europeans arrived and did not simply capitulate to Spanish culture and colonization. Instead, they realigned their political allegiances, accommodated new obligations, adopted new technologies, and endured.
This engaging revisionist history of the Aztecs, told through their own words, explores the experience of a once-powerful people facing the trauma of conquest and finding ways to survive, offering an empathetic interpretation for experts and non-specialists alike.
It is admirable how Townsend exploits the details of microhistory based on Native accounts to answer bigger questions, reveal meanings behind particular events, and offer the reader macro-level conclusions ... through this book we actually experience the past rather than simply read about it. It is not only convincing; it is simply captivating. Townsend has the courage to resort to "poetic license", but even then we do not lose the sense of transparency as the endnotes provide a full disclosure, informing critical readers about exact sources, possible discrepancies, uncertainties about the facts, and the source of the historian's preferred interpretation. By combining deep reading of Native sources with reexperiencing the emotions of their actors and reliving their deeds and decisions, Townsend puts into practice an ideal of historical writing.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Mexica Royal Family Tree
Introduction
Chapter 1: Genghis Khan on Foot
Chapter 2: People of the Valley
Chapter 3: The City on the Lake
Chapter 4: Strangers to Us People Here
Chapter 5: A War to End All Wars
Chapter 6: Early Days
Chapter 7: Crisis: The Indians Talk Back
Chapter 8: The Grandchildren
Epilogue
Notes
Annotated Bibliography
Index
