Conquistadors

By: Michael Wood

Narrated by: John Telfer

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Following in the footsteps of the greatest Spanish adventurers, Michael Wood retraces the path of the conquistadors from Amazonia to Lake Titicaca, and from the deserts of North Mexico to the heights of Machu Picchu. As he travels the same routes as Hernán Cortés, Francisco, and Gonzalo Pizarro, Wood describes the dramatic events that accompanied the epic sixteenth-century Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires. He also follows parts of Orellana’s extraordinary voyage of discovery down the Amazon and of Cabeza de Vaca’s arduous journey across America to the Pacific. Few stories in history match these conquests for sheer drama, endurance, and distances covered, and Wood’s gripping narrative brings them fully to life.

Wood reconstructs both sides of the conquest, drawing from sources such as Bernal Diaz’s eyewitness account, Cortés’s own letters, and the Aztec texts recorded not long after the fall of Mexico. Wood’s evocative story of his own journey makes a compelling connection with the sixteenth-century world as he relates the present-day customs, rituals, and oral traditions of the people he meets. He offers powerful descriptions of the rivers, mountains, and ruins he encounters on his trip, comparing what he has seen and experienced with the historical record.

As well as being one of the pivotal events in history, the Spanish conquest of the Americas was one of the most cruel and devastating. Wood grapples with the moral legacy of the European invasion and with the implications of an episode in history that swept away civilizations, religions, and ways of life. The stories in Conquistadors are not only of conquest, heroism, and greed but of changes in the way we see the world, history and civilization, justice and human rights.

©2011 Michael Wood (P)2011 AudioGO

Critic reviews

“[An] accessible, literate, and lively book.” (Amazon.com, editorial review)

“The digestible narrative provides a provocative overview of a historical episode that was both magnificent and shameful.” ( Booklist)

“A handsome, lucidly written narrative of events that were, for the most part, a triumph of greed, brutality, and blood.” ( Houston Chronicle)

The trampling of people and culture

Wood does a good job of portraying the unbridled ambition that drove the conquest of the new world. This wa a very engaging read that mixed the history with the modern day quest to see the areas and understand the people of today that remain from the indigenous first people and the mixing of the foreign invaders.

Well thought out. Entertaining and informative

Pretty neat how he in real life is tracing the very footsteps of the men that the stories are about and travelling to visit the current versions of the cities that he is speaking of as he stitches together information from various sources in an effort to give us a more complete picture.

Excellent

Great book. Very informative, and great analysis. The narration is one of the best I've heard.

It’s a must.

No joke this was one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. The writing was incredible and I found myself transported back through time to the age of conquest. This book was truly incredible 💯

Epic Adventure and Incredible History

I thought Australia explorers had it bad, but it seems too much water is a problem too! The story of making it to the mouth of the Amazon River was amazing. Really interesting history of so many cultures and very well presented.

Great Listen

Ive lived in the areas covered in this book and it was enlightening to learn more about the men who were in the forefront of this great event. The men who changed the New a world for better or for worse.

Masterpiece of Unexpected Detail

Probably one of the best books I've read in the past two years. Lucid. Erudite.

Really Entertaining, Very Educational, Easy Read

Most people in the Western educational have an idea of what a 'Conquistador' was and did. A few names are memorable, but as with the Br*tsh colonizers and their first interactions are completely sanitized. They had a few differences, but then everyone had the first Thanksgiving and then everything was great. Such as the Conquistadors and the "natives"... But this book (thankfully) is not a rosy look at the past and it doesn't rely on who might have been here or agregious translations of translations of someone's distant ancestors that dreamed about it. Due to the nature of the time in history and limitations of resources, some inferences have to be made. But there aren't full on inventions of events or conversations. The heavy lifting the book does -is- via first hand writings (albeit written after the fact) and more importantly the author rigorously compares testimony and accounts of both sides of the written history. So, considering the amount of time between then and now, the accounts that are referenced are the best we have for now. As well as a detailed account of first meetings and the drama there of, which is to be expected, there are so many little things that I had never learned of. These are the things that really shape the underlying narrative. Such as the events that influenced the culture and the recent history of the Native civilizations. The details are wonderfully airy and don't smash your brain with hard dates and dense frivolity. For me, this achievement is why I love this book. It really feels like a balanced account and not just "Spanish bad; Native people sad." There are no value judgments in the places where it could be easily found; i.e. human sacrifice. The reader may have qualms with that. Or the behavior that is near unspeakable on account of the Conquistadors. The author does tackle the "big ones" of New World contacts; Maya, Inca, Aztec, etc. But the depth of the seemingly inconsequential details return to reinforcing the main point being made. From the books I've read or the history as I was taught hasn't felt as balanced as this. The takeaway is solely on the reader. While the probability of "whatabout" syndrome is unfairly high with this part of history, the author deftly bobs and weaves the dogma and inherent Western view. To make a consistent, historically accurate (as possible), even handed presentation of the First Contact is masterful. To avoid the pitfalls of the standard narrative and be entertaining... almost perfect.

If you're interested in this subject, even a little, this book is for you.

And often unsung part of history, that should be a part of everyone’s collective recollection.

Thoughtfully examined an exciting narrative that is both compelling and provoking consistently keeping the reader interested throughout?.

Excellent narration of the Spanish conquest of the Americas.

This was an excellent listen. Well written and the narration is easy to listen too and helps too keep interest in a long book. Highly recommended