HERNÁN CORTÉS: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END (kindle) by Hourly History





Published by Hourly History in 2020.

I am an avid reader of history, but I have areas of weakness that I am perfectly willing to shore up a bit, but I don't want to invest a ton of time. I want to know a bit more, not become an expert. The history of the Spanish conquest of the New World is just one of those areas for me. I know more than most people, but I can see the glaringly empty areas of my own ignorance.

Cortés is, of course, the Spanish conquistador that pretty much invented the idea of being a Spanish conquistador. Conquistador means "conqueror" in Spanish and Cortés pretty much perfected the concept when he conquered the Aztec Empire from 1519-1521.

I am not going to attempt a defense of Cortés' motives or techniques, but it was literally one of the most amazing conquests in history. 

What this history does well is give a brief synopsis of the conquests in a straight narrative history. There's not a lot of analysis and certainly not much information on the native Mexican groups - not even the Aztecs themselves. 

This is exactly the sort of biography that someone who hates history might pick to read because it is not an intimidating length and it is not written in highfalutin language. 

There is nothing in this biography that is inaccurate, just a matter of what the Hourly History people decided to highlight and emphasize.

I rate this kindle book 3 stars out of 5. Not bad, for what it is. Nowhere near a complete biography, but a solid place to start. This book can be found on Amazon.com here:  HERNÁN CORTÉS: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END (kindle) by Hourly History.

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