Conquest History

An upstart French duke who sets out to conquer the most powerful and unified kingdom in Christendom. An invasion force on a scale not seen since the days of the Romans. One of the bloodiest and most decisive battles ever fought.

In 1519, Hernando Cortés arrived in Mexico to investigate stories of a wealthy empire. What he encountered was beyond his wildest dreams; an advanced civilization with complex artistic, political, and religious systems (involving extensive human sacrifice) and replete with gold. This was the Aztec empire, headed by the aloof emperor, Montezuma.

The most famous date in history is 1066, and with good reason, since no battle in medieval history had such a devastating effect on its losers as the Battle of Hastings, which altered the entire course of English history.

In 1532, the magnificent Inca empire was the last great civilization still isolated from the rest of humankind. The Conquest of the Incas is the definitive history of this civilization's overthrow, from the invasion by Pizarro's small gang of conquistadors and the Incas' valiant attempts to expel the invaders to the destruction of the Inca realm, the oppression of its people, and the modern discoveries of Machu Picchu and the lost city of Vilcabamba.

Esta crónica, publicada en 1568 se presenta como un testimonio de primera mano que desafía las versiones oficiales y más idealizadas de otros cronistas contemporáneos, como Hernán Cortés en sus Cartas de Relación y Francisco López de Gómara en su "Historia de la conquista de México". Bernal Díaz del Castillo se propone corregir lo que él considera omisiones o distorsiones de los hechos, ofreciendo una narrativa más terrenal y menos heroica de los eventos.

With gripping detail and firsthand accounts that sound like a novel, renowned author Warren Carroll unveils the events that led up to the divine intervention in which Our Lady of Guadalupe was sent to an Aztec, known now as St. Juan Diego. Here is the untold story of the faith and valor of the Spanish as they encounter an early Aztec culture marked by an immorality and an idolatry of epic proportions, along with the hardships they endured in the face of unspeakable cruelty.

Medieval manuscripts can tell us much about power and art, knowledge and beauty. Many have survived because of an author’s status - part of the reason we have so much of Chaucer’s writing, for example, is because he was a London-based government official first and a poet second.

About empty thrones, a lot can be said. Throughout history, both ancient and near modern, a lack of an heir and the sudden death of a beloved monarch always meant trouble. When the position of a king is up for grabs, a lot of eager hands come forward. Pretenders and would-be heirs, cousins and nephews, bastard sons and daughters - they all came forward staking their claim to the throne. In the history of Medieval England, such episodes were many.

An impossible city. A conqueror willing to risk everything. A woman caught between two worlds. In 1519, Hernán Cortés lands on the shores of an unknown territory. His ambition drives him to defy the gods, destiny, and the mighty Aztec Empire itself. Through jungles, volcanoes, and lakes, he will fight wars, endure betrayals, and witness human sacrifice. Amid the storm rises Doña Marina—La Malinche—his interpreter and ally, a woman capable of building a bridge between two civilizations. Across the seat of power, Moctezuma, the huey tlatoani, watches the arrival of the bearded men as a...

Dive into the epic saga of England's monarchy with "Monarchs of England: A Journey Through Time," a comprehensive and captivating exploration of the kings and queens who have shaped the history of England from the Norman Conquest to the modern day. This detailed narrative brings to life the Norman Kings who laid the foundations of the English monarchy, the formidable Plantagenets who ruled during an era of unprecedented expansion and conflict, and the rival houses of Lancaster and York, whose struggles culminated in the Wars of the Roses. Witness the rise of the Tudor dynasty, known for its...

From acclaimed and prize-winning historian Paul Gillingham, a rich and vibrant history of one of the world’s most diverse, politically ground-breaking, and influential of countries. At the beginning of his masterful work of scholarship and narration, Paul Gillingham writes, from its outset...

The Mongols were also known to be both merciful as well as tolerant. Moreover, their conquests weren’t aimed against civilized life; in fact, they helped connect numerous cultures and facilitated the spread of ideas and knowledge across the continent. Of course, the Mongols themselves were not uncultured brutes, as they had their own civilization, society, and traditions. With all that being said, this does not mean they were innocent for all the destruction they caused. Instead, it is implied that the Mongols weren’t like fire, causing annihilation wherever they passed.

The Conquest of New Spain is a tale of adventurers out to gain their fortune and save their souls and the horrifying actions some of them took. Diplomacy, love, deceit, luck, as well as battle all have their roles to play. The story takes extra care to be as historically accurate as possible, citing many sources and only filling in the dramatic, gory, shocking, and triumphant details. Enter the tale to learn, think, and be entertained by the true conflict between the great and refined Mexica Empire and the crude invading Spaniards. The wheel of fortune spun again and again in Hernando’s ...

Lyrical and powerful, Slaves for Peanuts deftly weaves together the natural and human history of a crop that transformed the lives of millions. Author Jori Lewis reveals how demand for peanut oil in Europe ensured that slavery in Africa would persist well into the twentieth century, long after the European powers had officially banned it in the territories they controlled. Delving deep into West African and European archives, Lewis recreates a world on the coast of Africa that is breathtakingly real and unlike anything modern listeners have experienced.

This book offers a fresh insight into the conquests of Alexander the Great by attempting to view the events of 336-323 BCE from the vantage point of the defeated.

Over the few short decades that followed Christopher Columbus' first landing in the Caribbean in 1492, Spain conquered the two most powerful civilizations of the Americas: the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru. Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and the other explorers and soldiers who took part in these expeditions dedicated their lives to seeking political and religious glory, helping to build an empire unlike any the world had ever seen. But centuries later, these conquistadors have become the stuff of nightmares.

Using a wide array of sources, historian Matthew Restall highlights seven key myths, uncovering the source of the inaccuracies and exploding the fallacies and misconceptions behind each myth. This vividly written and authoritative book shows, for instance, that native Americans did not take the conquistadors for gods and that small numbers of vastly outnumbered Spaniards did not bring down great empires with stunning rapidity. We discover that Columbus was correctly seen in his lifetime - and for decades after - as a briefly fortunate but unexceptional participant in efforts.

Beginning in the heady days just after the First Crusade, this volume - the third in the series that began with The History of the Ancient World and The History of the Medieval World - chronicles the contradictions of a world in transition. Impressively researched and brilliantly told, The History of the Renaissance World offers not just the names, dates, and facts but the memorable characters who illuminate the years between 1100 and 1453 - years that marked a sea change in mankind's perception of the world.

Lost Enlightenment recounts how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asia led the world in trade and economic development, the size and sophistication of its cities, the refinement of its arts, and, above all, in the advancement of knowledge in many fields. Central Asians achieved signal breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geology, medicine, chemistry, music, social science, philosophy, and theology, among other subjects.

Edward O. Wilson is one of the world’s preeminent biologists, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and the author of more than 25 books. The defining work in a remarkable career, The Social Conquest of Earth boldly addresses age-old questions (Where did we come from? What are we? Where are we going?) while delving into the biological sources of morality, religion, and the creative arts.