I agree with every word that Peter Frankopan says. This is a remarkable book that combines breathtaking scholarship with delightful readability. It strikes a perfect balance between narrative drive and explanation of sources for that narrative - what the author herself calls 'historical discourse and meta-discourse' - and is in addition a beautifully-presented book. Every polysyllabic Nahuatl words is followed by a pronunciation guide and notes are easy to locate in the end-of-book notes section due to the latter referencing page numbers. I absolutely loved this inspiring book.
I enjoyed the book as it gives you a different perspective compared to other texts which focus on the Spanish chronicles. However I did not like to much the constant bashing against the spaniards, we know they were not perfect and that their history has been sweetened by academia over the years but there are few positive or neutral comments in the book, as opposed to the natives. What's more jarring is the fact that some of the interpretations from Spanish texts seem to be wrong. As a native Spanish speaker I can go to the sources and read the text, it seems like a common occurrence among anglo speaking academics. I am not sure if it is because of Spanish is less diverse in terms of words and thus requires more interpretation compared to English or if it is on purpose. In any case, if old Spanish can be misinterpreted, I am unsure how accurate their Nahuatl interpretations are.
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Any book recommendations on the Mayans?
I agree with every word that Peter Frankopan says. This is a remarkable book that combines breathtaking scholarship with delightful readability. It strikes a perfect balance between narrative drive and explanation of sources for that narrative - what the author herself calls 'historical discourse and meta-discourse' - and is in addition a beautifully-presented book. Every polysyllabic Nahuatl words is followed by a pronunciation guide and notes are easy to locate in the end-of-book notes section due to the latter referencing page numbers. I absolutely loved this inspiring book.
agreed. currently reading this book as I am taking professor Townsends class on Aztecs, Incas and Mayas. fascinating book and professor
I enjoyed the book as it gives you a different perspective compared to other texts which focus on the Spanish chronicles. However I did not like to much the constant bashing against the spaniards, we know they were not perfect and that their history has been sweetened by academia over the years but there are few positive or neutral comments in the book, as opposed to the natives.
What's more jarring is the fact that some of the interpretations from Spanish texts seem to be wrong. As a native Spanish speaker I can go to the sources and read the text, it seems like a common occurrence among anglo speaking academics. I am not sure if it is because of Spanish is less diverse in terms of words and thus requires more interpretation compared to English or if it is on purpose. In any case, if old Spanish can be misinterpreted, I am unsure how accurate their Nahuatl interpretations are.