In 1519, Cortez, disobeying orders, sailed from Cuba to Yucatan with a rag tag force of four hundred Spaniards triggering the collapse of the greatest empire in North America. Out of this violent chapter of history, a dynamic new culture was created. We know them today as Mexicans.Bernal Diaz de Costello, a captain serving under Cortez during the conquest, kept a journal of his adventures which was discovered by an Oxford Historian in the 1590’s when Bernal was well into old age. In this swash buckling tale of adventure, the author has brought Bernal back to life to tell the truth about the conquest. Recounting his adventures, the reader experiences Bernal’s compelling story as we follow him as a young man in Spain all the way to the fall of Mexico and the establishment of Guatemala City.Landing in Cuba, Bernal has a chance encounter with Cortez which changes his life forever. Bernal joins forces with the clever and cunning Cortez who is appointed to lead a new expedition to Yucatan. Despite superior weaponry, Cortez is massively outnumbered against a formidable opponent who is well organized and experienced in warfare. The outcome was never assured yet Cortez, against long odds was able to prevail, succeeding where others failed. Then, with an incredible streak of good luck, Cortez finds Dona Marina, a stunningly beautiful Indian maiden who he takes as his lover. Dona Marina lived a privileged life in Tenochtitlan until her father died and her stepfather sold her into slavery. Fluent in Montezuma’s language, she knew the secrets of the city. An enthusiastic partner in crime who lusted for revenge against the people who betrayed her. She alone would change the fortunes of the expedition. Finally reaching the city, he boldly takes Montezuma hostage in his own palace and barricades himself within the palace grounds. While trapped inside the city, Cortez receives word that Spanish have arrived at the coast in large numbers intent on removing him from command. He and his men escape from the city but at great cost in lives lost. Through a series of bold moves, he marches to the coast and removes the commander and absorbs the newly arrived soldiers within his army. Bernal at first idolizes Cortez seeing him as a true leader of men, bold, clever and audacious, skills needed to prevail with such long odds. Yet as events unfold, Bernal becomes disillusioned by Cortez’s duplicitous behavior, ruthlessness towards the Indians and an insatiable appetite for gold. The fall of Montezuma and the Mexica, now known as “Aztecs,” is one of history’s incredible stories. An epic tale of how a tiny army of Spaniards, led by the renegade, Cortez, was able to take down the most advanced civilization ever to exist in North America. The reader will march with Bernal and experience the magical city of Tenochtitlan for the first time, feel the horror of human sacrifice and the fear as Bernal fights for his life. We will get to know Montezuma as Bernal befriends him and witness the tragedy of his unceremonious demise. The reader will feel the heat of battle and experience the pain of love as Bernal hopelessly falls for Tecuichpo, Montezuma’s beautiful daughter who resents the presence of the Spaniards in her city. Cortez is based on a true story that is almost too hard to believe. The events move fast like an action thriller. From the moment the Spaniards land in Yucatan, the adventure never abates. Cortez informs us of a great chapter of history, entertains us with suspense, action, and love and gives us a great insight into modern Mexico, the offspring of two very violent parents.