Booklists: suggested reading

Cortes Booklist

Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine, unless noted.

Related Reading List: Aztecs Reading List

Fiction

• Malinche
  Author: Esquivel, Laura
  Publisher: Atria $ 22.95 ISBN: 074329033x Date: 2006
  Updated 10.25.05
• Feathered Serpent: A Novel of the Mexican Conquest
  Author: Falconer, Colin
  Publisher: Crown $ 22.95 ISBN: 0609610295 Date: 2002
  The triumphant, controversial life of the Aztec woman Malinali is one of the great and enduring legends of Mexico. Falconer brings the Aztec empire to life in blazing color and examines with riveting detail the life of Malinali, who transcended her role as Cortes's translator and consort to become a fiery agent of history against all odds.
  Updated 10.24.05
• Malinche's Conquest
  Author: Lanyon, Anna
  Publisher: Unwin $ 18.95 ISBN: 1864487801 Date: 2000
  Malinche was the Amerindian translator for Hernan Cortes -- from her lips came the words that triggered the downfall of the great Aztec Emperor Moctezuma in the Spanish Conquest of 1521. In Mexico, Malinche's name is synonymous with "traitor", yet folklore and legend still celebrate her mystique. The author traverses Mexico and delves into the country's extraordinary past to excavate the mythologies of this exceptional woman's life. Malinche -- abandoned to strangers as a slave when just a girl -- was taken by Cortes to become interpreter, concubine, witness to his campaigns, mother to his son, yet married to another. She survived unimaginably precarious times relying on her intelligence, courage, and gift for language. Though Malinche's words changed history, her own story remained untold, until now. - Publisher Marketing.
  Updated 10.24.05
• Mexico
  Author: Michener, James A.
  Publisher: Random $ 25 ISBN: 0679416498 Date: 1992
  In 1961, Michener began a novel about Mexico. After many months of research and writing, he put the manuscript aside to work on other projects. 30 years later, he rediscovered the lost manuscript--and now he has completed it. In the tradition of Alaska, Texas, and Poland, a stirring, epic novel that brings to life 1,500 turbulent years of Mexican history, as seen through the eyes of an American journalist with Mexican ancestors.
  Updated 10.24.05
• The Conquest
  Author: Murray, Yxta Maya
  Publisher: Rayo $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060093595 Date: 2002
  Murray's fascinating novel centers around Sara Rosario Gonzales, a restorer of rare books and manuscripts at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Murray delivers a multilayered novel embued with poignancy, rich historical detail, and the message that love is a timeless force that touches every part of readers' lives.
  Updated 10.24.05
• Captain from Castile
  Author: Shellabarger, Samuel
  Publisher: Little Brown $ 7.95 ISBN: 0316784613 Date: 1945
  The mid-20th century popular classic of a Spanish nobleman who accompanies Cortez to conquer Mexico. "Torrid, nonstop adventure. . . . First-rate, " "Time Magazine."
  Updated 10.24.05

For Kids

• The Feathered Serpent
  Author: O'Dell, Scott
  Publisher: Houghton $ 16.45 ISBN: 0395308518 Date: 1981
  A young Spanish seminarian who the Mayas believe is their powerful god, Kukulcan, witnesses the coming of Cortes and the capture of the magnificent Aztec city, Tenochtitlan.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Historical Fiction

Nonfiction

• Cortes: The Great Adventurer and the Fate of Aztec Mexico
  Author: Marks, Richard Lee
  Publisher: Knopf $ 27.50 ISBN: 0679406093 Date: 1993
  Booklist Kirkus
  The quintessential conquistador, here is Cortes the man of passion, of principle, of humor in the face of death, of savagery against his enemies. His story is told in the framework of the epic clash between Aztec and Spaniard, intrinsically incompatible civilizations.
  Updated 8.18.05