The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was perhaps one of the greatest turning points in North American history. This book relates the full story of how the Spanish adventurer Hernando Cortés and his small group overthrew the Aztec Empire and laid the foundation for the present-day nation of Mexico. It tells of how Cortés found his way to the New World, and, once there, drew together an alliance of a few hundred Spaniards and around 7,000 local Indian allies-all of those who had suffered at the hands of the Aztecs for countless years and who leaped at the chance to exact revenge upon their neighbors. After an initially peaceful parley into the Aztec capital-in search of gold and other riches-violence erupted and the Spaniards were nearly wiped out and forced to retreat. Outside the city, Cortés assembled a new army, consisting of 2,000 Spaniards and around 200,000 Indian allies, and started a general assault on the Aztec capital which saw Spanish boats built in situ and assembled on Lake Tezcuco-the waterway surrounding the magnificent island city. The fierce three-month-long siege ended in utter defeat for the Aztecs, and the city was nearly razed and rebuilt as the present-day metropolis of Mexico City. This exciting, dramatic, and horrendously bloody story reveals all the horror of the time, and Ober's book remains one of the most readable narratives of this earth-shaking military campaign ever written. Contents I. In Spain and Hispaniola 1485-1511 II. With Velasquez in Cuba 1511-1518 III. Cortés Sets Out for Mexico 1519 IV. The Great Battle of Tabasco 1519 V. In the Plumed Serpent's Land 1519 VI. An Alliance with the Totonacs 1519 VII. Cortés Destroys his Fleet 1519 VIII. Encounters with the Tlascalans 1519 IX. A Massacre in the Holy City 1519 X. In the City of Mexico 1519 XI. At Montezuma's Court 1519 XII. Montezuma a Prisoner 1519-1520 XIII. An Invasion by Narvaez 1520 XIV. The Spaniards Meet with Disaster 1520 XV. The Midnight Retreat from Mexico 1520 XVI. Siege of the Aztec Capital 1521 XVII. Montezuma's City Destroyed 1521 XVIII. The Colonization of Mexico 1521 XIX. A Perilous Expedition 1524-1526 XX. Last Voyages and Last Days