Mexico Books - Page 5

The Angry Aztecs and the Incredible Incas (Horrible Histories Collections)

Terry Deary

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Funny and Informative 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

There has been some criticism of the Horrible Histories as misinformed and simplistic, but this particular volume is wonderful. I've studied the Aztecs by looking at the Florentine Codex and reading scholarly works on the subject, and the "Angry Aztecs" gets quite a lot of the information right. It is written so kids can understand it, but anyone with a sense of humor should enjoy it. It is certainly better than the 2 pages devoted to the Aztecs in the textbook I use to teach high school history!

AZTECS AND INCAS 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Excellent product...as almost ALL of Terry Deary's works...highly recommend this for kids and adults (especially college students)!

Editorial Review:

The foulest facts about the people whose idea of fun was ripping out human hearts, and the gory details on the incredible empire that was brought down by 260 Spanish invaders and a few germs...

The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives

Heather McKillop

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Scholarly and well-researched comprehensive look at the ancient Maya 5 out of 5 stars.
27 of 27 people found this review helpful.

_The Ancient Maya_ by Heather McKillop is a comprehensive and thoroughly researched overview of this Central American civilization, complete with maps, diagrams, photographs, and many pages of references.

Organized like a textbook (and I understand it is used as such in some college courses), it is divided into eleven chapters. The first chapter is a general introduction, the author noting some of the evolution in scholarly understanding of the Maya, due to a huge growth in the amount of fieldwork and critical breakthroughs in decipherment of Mayan hieroglyphics, particularly thanks to the efforts of such scholars as Yuri Knorozov (who pointed out that the hieroglyphs were phonetic and not logographs or based on picture writing) and Tatiana Proskouriakoff (who discovered that hieroglyphs on carved stone monuments or stelae recorded historical information and the exploits of Classic Maya royalty, not priestly writings on astronomy and mathematics). McKillop introduced three competing theories that attempted to explain the collapse of the classic Maya civilization in the ninth century, something that she would revisit several times (briefly, they were ecological disaster resulting form overpopulation and overuse of the land, escalating endemic warfare between the various Maya city-states, and catastrophic environmental change brought about by climatic shifts).

Chapter two looked at where the ancient Maya civilization existed, dividing the Maya area into three regions; the northern Maya lowlands (the Yucatan peninsula), the southern Maya lowlands (Belize, the Peten area of Guatemala, the Chiapas area of Mexico, and part of Honduras), and the southern Maya highlands (southern Guatemala). She noted the rock types used by the ancient Maya - chert (which she said is erroneously referred to as flint), limestone, obsidian, basalt - and their sources and issues in studying existing plant and animal communities in the region (ramon trees, which produce an edible nut, are prolific around Maya ruin sites but were not a major component of the Classic Maya diet; these trees love the lime-rich soil found around deteriorating limestone buildings).

Chapter three looked at the history of the archaeology of the Maya. She noted how far study has advanced, from destructive digging ("Gann holes" are still found in the center of some stone mounds, the legacy of enthusiastic explorer Thomas Gann) and forgeries (the famous crystal skull found in 1927) to sophisticated modern techniques (including studies of debitage - flakes left over from making stone tools - and obsidian hydration, which can pinpoint the source of obsidian used for tools and help trace Maya trade routes).

Chapter four is on the origins, growth, and decline of Maya civilization. An important chapter, she provided a good definition of the Classic period (approximately A.D. 300 to 900, when Maya kings and queens had stone monuments erected with historical information and dates in the Maya long count and the peak of the civilization in terms of population, architecture, and the arts). She provided an overview of the great importance in studying Maya pottery, an overview of Maya architecture, and a discussion of Postclassic Maya civilization.

Chapter five was devoted to economic matters, which is divided by scholars into the prestige economy (production and distribution of goods for the royal Maya) and the subsistence economy (goods for the daily use of all classes of Maya society). There is still considerable debate over the degree of elite control and centralization of the ancient Maya economy as well as how specialized the means of production was; was there mass production or cottage industries?

Chapter six covered Maya society. It was interesting to learn that there was a Maya middle class and even "garden cities" or suburbs in some of the 80 Maya polities that existed. She covered the evolution in understanding of Maya population (from concepts of Maya cities as largely empty ceremonial centers to instead that of teeming metropolises) and the different social levels of Maya society; there were two classes of elites (ahau and cahal), while the remaining 98 percent of Maya society was made up two classes of commoners and perhaps slaves (it is debated).

Chapter seven looked at Maya politics. There is debate over whether the Maya city-states were fairly autonomous and operated independently (the segmentary model) or whether there was more centralization and various regional superpowers rose and fell. Other debates center over the nature of warfare; was it related to expansionistic empire-building by Maya royalty, or was it to obtain captives for sacrifice? She covered the development of defensive walls in Maya cities, noting that some cities apparently hastily built defensive walls and moats using the stone from buildings, causeways, and paths of their own city.

Chapter eight looked at Maya religion and ideology, with lots of coverage of the ball game and of Maya deities.

Chapter nine looked at the material culture, with much discussion of the types of items found and how they are studied. Interesting facts; chert was sometimes used to make complex renditions of Maya rulers and their method of manufacture "defies modern replication," Maya painters showed frame-by-frame action, something not shown in Western art until the late 19th century, and pumice was used to make fishing floats.

Chapter ten looked at the intellectual accomplishments of the Maya, notably their mathematics, calendars, writing, and astronomy. Though books were apparently once common in the Classic period, only four Postclassic books survive. They were made of fig bark paper whose surface was coated with a white coating of plaster or gesso (a calcium sulphate), written on with either a sharp quill pen or a brush pen, and were fan-folded with text and images on both sides. Maya glyphs were quite variable, reflecting the decentralized nature of the Classic Maya political landscape.

The final chapter summarized future issues for Mayanists, notably discussions of the Classic collapse (an issue complicated by the fact that the collapse took 150 years to happen and some areas in northern Belize, the coast, and the northern Maya lowlands actually climaxed after the collapse), the nature of Mayan politics, food, and issues of illegal trade in Maya antiquities.

Editorial Review:

"Comprehensive…clearly written…Highly recommended."—Choice

Temples lost in the rainforest. Strange inscriptions and ritual bloodletting. Such are the images popularly associated with the ancient Maya of Central America. But who really were the people of this lost civilization? How and why did their culture achieve regional dominance? Could such pressing contemporary problems as climate change and environmental degradation hold the key to the collapse of Maya civilization?

Of interest to scholars and general readers alike, The Ancient Maya brings the controversies that have divided experts on the ancient Maya to a wider audience. Heather McKillop examines the debates concerning Mayan hieroglyphs, the Maya economy, and the conflicting theories behind the enigmatic collapse of the Maya civilization. The most readable and accessible work in the field, this book brings the general reader up to date with the latest archaeological evidence.

Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico

Hugh Thomas

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Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The triumph of 1800 Spaniards against an Empire 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a balanced, 600 page account of the conquest of the large Aztec Empire in 1519-21 by 1800 spaniards led by Hernan Cortes, written in a very fluid narrative style. It takes into account both Spanish and Aztec sources, and tries to avoid the traditional demonization of one side (for its brutality) or the other(for its practice of human sacrifice).
The first part of the story is a presentation of the very advanced but technologically inferior Aztec (or Mexica)civilization before the conquest followed by a similar review of early 16th century Spain. Spain already had a story of aggressive behavior, being a country that had first reconquered its whole territory from the Moors and then moved on to subjugate the large Caribbean islands discovered by Colombus 25 years before.
The rest of the book is mostly a chronological, very detailed and gripping account of the conquest itself, from the moment of the first contacts until the ultimately successful siege of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). This conquest was the result of the superior technology of the Europeans (ships, armor, horses, steel swords, cannon, firearms and crossbows) helped by the initial surprise of the Aztec-Mexica who thought the newcomers were long absent Gods returning from faraway lands.
A smallpox epidemic brought by the Spanish (against which the indigenous populations had no immunity)and the desire of many local tribes to get rid of Aztec domination (originally from central Mexico, they had come to control the whole region) also helped considerably.
But the personality of Cortes seems to have played a key role as well; a less gifted and daring leader of men might not have been so successful, according to the author. Cortes and his opponent the Aztec emperor Montezuma are central characters to the story.
The final chapters discuss, in general terms, the decades following the military conquest, that saw both the subjugation of the local peoples and the nearly complete destruction of their religion (not without resistance)and many other aspects of their way of life. On the other hand, being highly civilized, they eagerly adopted technological and agricultural improvements and novelties brought by the Spanish, who, in turn, also brought to Europe American turkeys, chocolate, maize,...
Three aspects of this whole story seemed to me quite fasinating: the complexity and refinement of Aztec civilization, the very speed of the conquest (and the astonishing achievements of a handful of men far away from their country and its resources), and finally, the fusion of the local and Spanish cultures and populations that followed.

Editorial Review:

THE UNPARALLELED HISTORY OF THE FALL OF OLD MEXICO

Drawing on newly discovered sources and writing with brilliance, drama, and profound historical insight, Hugh Thomas presents an engrossing narrative of one of the most significant events of Western history.

Ringing with the fury of two great empires locked in an epic battle, Conquest captures in extraordinary detail the Mexican and Spanish civilizations and offers unprecedented in-depth portraits of the legendary opponents, Montezuma and Cortés. Conquest is an essential work of history from one of our most gifted historians.

Aztec Blood (Aztec)

Gary Jennings

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Total reviews: 36 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

The Best of the Aztec Books 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

For me, this was, without a doubt, the best of Gary Jennings's books about the Aztecs. In a wide ranging story that spans cultures, economics, religion and continents, he puts forth a protagonist who is a likable rogue we just want to see succeed.

The rogue's name is Cristoforo, known as el bastardaro...which means exactly what the cognate implies. We first meet him languishing under torture in the dungeons of the Viceroy in Mexico City. He is ordered to write an account of his life and crimes in the hope that the rulers may find where his stash of loot is hidden. It is as his story unfolds that we find out who he is.

He is a poor "half-breed". Because of this he is despised by all, Indian and Spaniard alike. The only one who will give him the time of day is an old friar who treats him as a son. The friar provides literacy and education for the boy but warns him to hide his abilities. The arrival of an old harridan and a cruel overseer at the hacienda provokes fear. The friar takes the boy to Veracruz, warning him to hide his identity but never really letting the boy know about his identity. This act causes the priest to be defrocked due to political pressure brought forth by the old lady but he remains to true his calling to help the poor.

In Veracruz, the boy learns the skills of a street beggar and becomes quite an accomplished little trickster. The appearance once again of the old lady and the overseer cause them to eventually flee however. It is a flight the boy survives but that the friar does not. Thus begins the third part of his life.

He is apprenticed to a native shaman who heals people. From this old man the boy learns of his Aztec heritage, though not of his family. He is still a schemer and his schemes eventually lead him to hook up with the rogue who helped him to escape Veracruz. This improves his learning but eventually, a scheme goes wrong and the old healer is killed. The boy is left at the mercy of the rogue and a crown official who sees some merit and use in him.

The crown official takes the two in, teaching them to live as Spanish nobility but using them to investigate crown crimes. In doing so, the educational process is taken to the PhD level as he learns the corruption of officialdom. While investigating these crimes, he comes in contact with the mysterious old lady and the cruel overseer again. His discovery leads his patron and his entire adopted family into the dungeons of the inquisition. This is all quite frustrating in that he still does not know what he has done earn such enmity other than to be born.

From the inquisition it is to life as a slave in the mines. Escape from there leads to a life of brigandage and a reunion with his rogue friend. A heist of the royal mint gets them both to Spain. All the while, the young boy turned into a man wants to know who he is, why he is hated and hunted and he wants vengeance on those who have killed all his loved ones. That brings him back to Mexico, this time posing as a young noble. In his quest, he gets his revenge, the love of his life and his true birthright is a series of bold and almost unbelievable actions.

By this point, the plausibility hardly matters. The story is so engrossing that the reader is willing to swallow most anything and do so willingly.

This one is much happier than the previous two books but it does not always seem that way. It is fascinating as a story and as an examination of the best and the worst of native and colonial cultures.

Editorial Review:

The Aztec people have been conquered and a bloody revolt of the Indians put down. The former Aztec Empire is now a colony called New Spain in which the Indians are enslaved to great estates that are actually feudal domains. The Spanish lords rule as kings, treating Indian men as work animals and Indian women as their personal property. In this colourful and exciting era of swords and cloaks, upheaval and revolution, a young beggar boy, in whose blood runs that of both Spanish and Aztec royalty, must claim his birthright. From the torrid streets of the City of the Dead along the Veracruz Coast to the ageless glory of Seville in Old Spain, Cristo the Bastard connives, fights, and loves as he seeks the truthwithout knowing that he will be the founder of a proud new people. As we follow the loves and adventures of Cristo and experience the colorful splendor and barbarism of the era, a vanished culture is brought to life in all its magnificence.

Breaking the Maya Code

Michael D. Coe

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Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Linguistic Detective Tale 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Mayan civilization flourished in Central America for more than a thousand years and at least four million Mayas still live in Guatemala and Mexico and speak Mayan languages. The ruins the Mayas left behind are spectacular -- Tikal in Guatemala, featured in the movie "Star Wars," is perhaps the greatest of them all. However, our knowledge of the Mayas has always been limited because scholars were unable to decipher Mayan writing. In fact, many scholars have denied that the Mayan symbols -- glyphs -- were more than doodlings, calendars, and compilatation of dates.

"Breaking the Maya Code" is not a history of the Maya civilization but rather a history of the scholars who have attempted to unravel the meaning of the enigmatic Mayan glyphs. Coe's premise is that racial discrimination and scholarly politics retarded the decipherment of the glyphs. Amazingly, many scholars of the Maya didn't bother to learn the Mayan language.

The chief villain of the book is Sir Eric Thompson who had a strangle-hold on Mayan studies for many years. It was only with his death in 1975 that a motley group of linguists and amateurs learned to read the glyphs -- and thus demonstrate conclusively that the Mayas possessed a written language. The remarkable individuals who achieved this breakthrough included a Soviet scholar who had never visited Central America, a 12 year old boy, a self-described redneck woman from Tennessee, and a mathematician who began life as a Wisconsin farmboy. The dirt archeologists, "wielders of trowels" in the author's words, were unenthusiastic about the accomplishments of the linguists.

The author paints a picture of the dead hand of academia inhibiting rather than promoting the study of Mayan writing. An archaelogist himself, he personally knows the principal characters in his story and he was a participant in many of the key events that led to a comprehension of Mayan writing. His writing is lively, mostly warm and generous about his colleagues but sometimes critical, and the whole story is told in a connected narrative that reads like a novel, albeit one in which the reader is led through the complex process of how linguists learned to decipher Mayan glyphs.

Smallchief

Editorial Review:

Michael Coe's classic inside story of one of the major intellectual breakthroughs of our time--the last great decoding of an ancient script--has been updated throughout and now includes an epilogue that brings the reader up to date in the fast-changing field of Maya decipherment. Among the more exciting advances to be described are:
* the discovery of the specific Maya language and sophisticated grammar used by the ancient scribes on stone monuments and painted vases;
* archaeological explorations of tombs and buildings of the ancient founders of the great city of Copan, whose very existence had been predicted by epigraphers through glyphic decipherment;
* the realization that many small city-states were dominated by two rival giants, Tikal and Calakmul, through a potent combination of military conquest, diplomacy, and royal marriages.

Frida Kahlo: The Paintings

Hayden Herrera

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In small, stunningly rendered self–portraits, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo painted herself cracked open, hemorrhaging during a miscarriage, anesthetized on a hospital gurney, and weeping beside her own extracted heart.

Her works are so incendiary in emotion and subject matter that one art critic suggested the walls of an exhibition be covered with asbestos.

In this beautiful book, art historian Hayden Herrera brings together numerous paintings and sketches by the amazing Mexican artist, documenting each with explanatory text that probes the influences in Kahlo's life and their meaning for her work. Included among the illustrations are more than eighty full–color paintings, as well as dozens of black–and–white pictures and line illustrations. Among the famous and little–known works included in Frida Kahlo: The Paintings are The Two Fridas, Self–Portrait as a Tehuana, Without Hope, The Dream, The Little Deer, Diego and I, Henry Ford Hospital, My Birth, and My Nurse and I. Here, too, are documentary photographs of Frida Kahlo and her world that help to illuminate the various stages of her life.

Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros

Desmond Rochfort

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Big Three 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Read the editorial reviews first and if you are still not convinced that this book does a good job covering the Big Three than get individual books on each. The text is outstanding and puts the works of art into a political context of the time period. The author is analytical, insightful and definitely well versed in the subject matter.There is an exhaustive bibliography, extensive endnotes on each chapter and spectacular reproductions on thick quality paper stock. There are historical photographs of public works in progress and a varity of camera angles of individual murals to show the enormity of the works. I have seen many of these murals on location and this book does an excellent job of portraying them as they are. When you see a Rivera fresco on a wall at the National Palace live or in this case from a pulled out camera angle and see the railing leading to the next floor being dwarfed by the images it is truly impressive. Looking at the details within the murals is the ultimate visual experience where you can get lost in the picture and the meaning. The closeups and details of individual segments are superior. This is art for the peoples public viewing brought directly to you from Mexico to hold in your hands and examine at your leisure. There are several good books out there on Mexican Murals but this one for the money is outstanding. The three artists each had a distictive style but each brought a unifying nationalistic approach to the walls of public buildings. Is one artist better than the other? You be the judge, everyone has their own favorite. If you are unfamiliar with the works of the Big Three than check it out, you are in for a treat.

Editorial Review:

Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros--these now legendary men have emerged as the most prominent figures of the famed Mexican mural movement from the 1920s through the early '70s. The dramatic story of the movement is told here in a fascinating history of the artists accompanied by spectacular color reproductions of their murals. 150 color and 74 b&w images.

The Adventures of a Cello

Carlos Prieto

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Music as a great adventure of mind and body: this is what Carlos Prieto gives us in this spirited book."

—Carlos Fuentes

"Like Rostropovich, Carlos Prieto is a true champion of the cello. A creative artist, scholar, and storyteller, Carlos has been a prolific contributor to the flow of music throughout the western hemisphere, premiering compositions of some of the greatest contemporary composers and helping to nurture and develop an entire generation of Latin America's most talented musicians. I am privileged to know him as a colleague and honored to call him my friend."

—Yo-Yo Ma

In 1720, Antonio Stradivari crafted an exquisite work of art—a cello known as the Piatti. Over the next three centuries of its life, the Piatti cello left its birthplace of Cremona, Italy, and resided in Spain, Ireland, England, Italy, Germany, and the United States. The Piatti filled sacred spaces, such as the Santa Cueva de Cádiz, with its incomparable voice. It also spent time in more profane places, including New York City bars, where it served as a guarantee for unpaid liquor tabs. The Piatti narrowly escaped Nazi Germany in 1935 and was once even left lying in the street all night. In 1978, the Piatti became the musical soul mate of world-renowned cellist Carlos Prieto, with whom it has given concerts around the world.

In this delightful book, Mr. Prieto recounts the adventurous life of his beloved "Cello Prieto," tracing its history through each of its previous owners from Stradivari in 1720 to himself. He then describes his noteworthy experiences of playing the Piatti cello, with which he has premiered some eighty compositions. In this part of their mutual story, Prieto gives a concise summary of his own remarkable career and his relationships with many illustrious personalities, including Igor Stravinsky, Dmitry Shostakovich, Pablo Casals, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gabriel García Márquez.

To make the story of his cello complete, Mr. Prieto also provides a brief history of violin making and a succinct review of cello music from Stradivari to the present. He highlights the work of composers from Latin America, Spain, and Portugal, for whose music he has long been an advocate and principal performer. Thus, The Adventures of a Cello offers not only the first biography of a musical instrument but also an inviting overview of cello music and its preeminent composers and performers.

(2007)

Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants

Jorge G. Castaneda

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A fascinating and revealing look at the United States' largest, most controversial group of immigrants, by Mexico's former foreign minister.

In the wake of the massive, nationwide rally in support of immigrant rights in May 2006, which drew a record number of participants, one thing has become clear: in the United States today, no domestic issue sparks as much public debate or is as politicized as immigration, with the spotlight focused on Mexican immigrants above all others.

In Ex Mex, former Mexican foreign minister and well-known scholar Jorge G. Castañeda draws on his experience in both capacities to dispel some of the most widely held and mistaken ideas about the United States' largest immigrant population. Through Castañeda, we learn who the newest generation of immigrants from Mexico is, why they've chosen to live in the United States, where they work, and what they ultimately hope to achieve. Castañeda also offers an insider's account of the intricate and secret negotiations that took place between Mexico and the United States in 2001-2—contradicting some of the official versions published here—and the unilateral actions that were taken by his government to improve the conditions of Mexican migrants when talks between the two countries became stalemated.

This timely and authoritative book will be required reading for the debates about immigration that will soon be part of the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Chia: Rediscovering a Forgotten Crop of the Aztecs

Ricardo Ayerza, Wayne Coates

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Editorial Review:

One of the four main Aztec crops at the time of Columbus’s arrival in the New World, chia is now a forgotten food of the Americas. Chia seed oil offers the highest omega-3 fatty acid content available from plants, but today this species is known only for its use in "chia pets." Yet pre-Columbian civilizations used chia as a raw material for medicines and nutritional compounds, while chia flour could be stored for years as a food reserve and was valued as a source of energy on long journeys.

In this book, agronomist Ricardo Ayerza and agricultural engineer Wayne Coates trace the long and fascinating history of chia’s use, then reveal the scientific story of the plant and its modern potential. They compare fatty acid profiles of chia with our other major sources—fish oil, flaxseed, and marine algae—and provide evidence that chia is superior in many ways.

Here are just some of the benefits that chia provides:
- chia has the highest known percentage of alpha-linolenic acid, and the highest combined alpha-linolenic and linoleic fatty acid percentage of all crops
- chia has more protein, lipids, energy, and fiber—but fewer carbs—than rice, barley, oats, wheat, or corn—and its protein is gluten-free
- chia is an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, and copper
- chia is low in sodium: salmon has 78 times as much, tuna 237 times as much
- chia exhibits no evidence of allergic response, even in individuals with peanut and tree-nut allergies
- chia doesn’t give off a “fishy flavor,” unlike some other sources of omega-3 fatty acid

The need to balance the essential fatty acid content of the human diet, combined with the need for a safe, renewable, omega-3 fatty acid source, positions chia to become one of the world’s important crops. As this insightful study shows, current nutritional understanding provides an excellent opportunity to reintroduce this important food to the world.