Audiobook · read by volunteers
History of the Conquest of Mexico
William H. Prescott (1796–1859)
Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015), hefyd, Sue Anderson, Mick, ontheroad, Nathalie J., Richard Kilmer (1942-2022), TriciaG, Kalynda, Lizzie Driver · 51 chapters · 24 h 35
About the book
In 1519 a small Spanish force landed on the coast of Mexico, and within two years one of the great empires of the Americas had fallen. William H. Prescott, one of the first major American historians, tells this astonishing story on a large canvas. He begins with the land itself and the civilisation of the Aztecs, their climate, their rulers, their religion and their writing, before following Hernán Cortés and his companions through alliances, betrayals and battles. The narrative is vivid and dramatic, written in the grand manner of the nineteenth century, with an eye for character and landscape. Ten LibriVox readers share the work across fifty-one files and nearly twenty-five hours. It is a major piece of historical writing that rewards patient listening, though it should be heard alongside more recent scholarship.
Introduction
William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859) was an American historian from Massachusetts who became famous for his narratives of Spanish history. Despite serious problems with his eyesight, he produced a series of large works with the help of assistants who read to him and a device that allowed him to write with little light. The History of the Conquest of Mexico, published in 1843, brought him international fame and was widely admired for its dramatic storytelling.
The book opens with an extensive account of ancient Mexico: its climate and products, its rulers and nobility, its mythology and priesthood, and its hieroglyphic manuscripts. Only then does Prescott turn to the arrival of the Spaniards and to the campaign led by Cortés. He drew on the Spanish chronicles and other sources then available, and he shaped them into a story with a strong sense of adventure and tragedy.
Like many works of its period, the history reflects the assumptions of its time. Its view of the indigenous peoples and of the conquerors is that of a nineteenth-century author, and later historians have corrected and challenged many of its judgments and used sources that Prescott could not consult. It is best taken as a classic of narrative history rather than as the last word on the subject, and as a document of how the conquest was understood in the century after it was written.
This LibriVox recording is the work of several volunteers, including Denny Sayers, hefyd and Sue Anderson. It contains fifty-one files and lasts almost twenty-five hours, which makes it a good long-term companion for a history enthusiast.
Public domain
William H. Prescott died in 1859: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text