Overall, the book was decently interesting. The illustrations were very cool and the attempt to structure the book chronologically was appreciated. I did struggle with keeping track of the various people and cities. I think a glossary instead of footnotes would have helped with this. While the introductions to the chapters were helpful, they felt a little abrupt and dense.

Uses outdated language that was correct at the time of printing. All in all, this is a great little introduction to the Spanish invasion of Tenochtitlan, no prior knowledge required.

History is generally written by the victors of any conflict (with the American Civil War being a notable exception to that), so it was fascinating to read accounts from the Aztec perspective of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. While the facts and events overlap with those from the Eurocentric narrative, the perception of those events differ greatly. These perspectives offer us a history that is oftentimes messier, but also richer.

This was interesting to read along with Diaz' Conquest of New Spain. The two narratives (or perhaps I should say "multiple narratives," since this Aztec chronicles come from several different sources) were surprisingly in sync. Many of the questions I had from reading Diaz' account were answered in Broken Spears: what was going through the minds of the Mexica as the Spanish began their push inland? What happened to all the dead from the battles? Were the accounts of human sacrifice exaggerated? (Again surprisingly, the answer seems to be "no.") How did the Aztecs view The Night of Sorrows and Alvarado's massacre? How did they view Montezuma's imprisonment and death? How did they preserve their story (or "recapture their memory," in the words of Leon-Portilla), and what were the lasting effects of the conquest? These questions and more are answered, along with details omitted from European texts, including descriptions of the devastating smallpox outbreak and starving within Tenochtitlan during the siege. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of the New World.

Excellently compiled and easy to follow. Shares a perspective rarely taught and lesser-known about.

I just didn't enjoy this read that much. I would recommend it to people who are interested in the Spanish Conquest of Latin America from the Aztec's perspective, but it's not a very interesting casual read.