Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest

The Incas were an Indigenous ethnic group that extended imperial power over large portions of Andean South America from the 15th to the early 16th centuries. This empire included the modern nations of Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, and parts of northern Chile and Argentina. The Spanish conquered the wealthy empire, which was weakened by disease and civil war, in 1532 under the direction of the conquistador Francisco Pizzaro.

The Mexica (or Aztec) Empire was centered on Mesoamerica with its capital at Tenochtitlán. It was established by Nahua peoples who conquered surrounding territories during the 15th century. This Mexica imperialism generated regional rivalries from which Spanish conquistador, Hernán Cortés, benefited when he allied with the Tlaxcalans in the conquest of the Mexica in 1521.

The Nahua are Indigenous peoples from Mexico to Central America, also known collectively as the Aztecs, who speak related Nahuatl languages. Restall uses surviving primary sources in Nahuatl to present a historically-accurate picture of the Spanish conquest of the Americas that included Indigenous perspectives. The Mexica and Tlaxcalans, rival peoples subdued by the Spanish, are both Nahua.