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Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

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Ratings
Book
8
Narrator
4
Release Date
April 14, 2020
Duration
12 hours 2 minutes
Summary
In November 1519, Hernando Cortés walked along a causeway leading to the capital of the Aztec kingdom and came face to face with Moctezuma. That story—and the story of what happened afterwards—has been told many times, but always following the narrative offered by the Spaniards. After all, we have been taught, it was the Europeans who held the pens. But the Native Americans were intrigued by the Roman alphabet and, unbeknownst to the newcomers, they used it to write detailed histories in their own language of Nahuatl. Until recently, these sources remained obscure, only partially translated, and rarely consulted by scholars.



For the first time, in Fifth Sun, the history of the Aztecs is offered in all its complexity based solely on the texts written by the indigenous people themselves. Camilla Townsend presents an accessible and humanized depiction of these native Mexicans, rather than seeing them as the exotic, bloody figures of European stereotypes. The conquest, in this work, is neither an apocalyptic moment, nor an origin story launching Mexicans into existence. The Mexica people had a history of their own long before the Europeans arrived and did not simply capitulate to Spanish culture and colonization. Instead, they realigned their political allegiances, accommodated new obligations, adopted new technologies, and endured.
Reviews
Profile Avatar Bogdan Alexiu Feb 2025

The book begins with a glossary. I kind of wish I had a printed version of this, so I can reference back when I met the terms inside the book itself. Otherwise listening to the glossary in the beginning was pretty weird and useless; there were tons of words with their meanings but I couldn't really remember anything since there were so many at once and without any context.But once the glossary ended, the audiobook had me hooked. It was great to hear the history from "Aztec" sources, rather then just the Spanish ones.I felt like the meeting between Cortez and Montezuma was the peak of the book, but the story continued much further into the centuries that followed, and I'm glad it did.I am greatfull for being recommended this book and will recommend it to anyone interested in the subject

Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

Author: Camilla Townsend
Read by: Christina Delaine
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