I believe that in the last 20 years or so, there have been some major discoveries relating to the history of the Aztecs and the Incas. They always fascinated me and I wonder if any Dopers know any recent good books that explain their history.
Thanks!
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
This covers more than just the Aztecs and Inkas, but it is a very readable summary of much of the new research/discoveries about the Americas.
For a literary picture of Aztec society, read Aztec, by the late Gary Jennings. (Caveat lector: It is a very bloody book.)
For a literary picture of Inca society, read the alternate-history novel Inca: The Scarlet Fringe, by Susan Alles Blom. (And then chew some coca leaves. 
)
Has a fair bit of sex in it, too.
I’ve always wondered how historically accurate that book was. I mean, I know it’s fiction, but is it well regarded among historians?
Michael E. Smith’s The Aztecs (1996; Blackwell, 2003) is rather academic, but struck me as a convincingly up-to-date and solid overview.
I found Aztec to be a repulsive beach-read potboiler, and I too wondered (a lot) how historically accurate it was.
The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico, 1517-1521 by Bernal Diaz del Castillo is an excellent first hand accout of Cortez’ invasion of Mexico. It is a translation of the manuscript of an actual soldier in Cortez’ army.
*The Aztecs * by Richard F. Townsend 1992, was quite enjoyable. It was more about their society and religion than a really indepth study of archeology.
I would highly recommend this as well. It is remarkable to see the events as they appeared to an actual participant.
I’ve read both Aztec and *Aztec Blood *by Jennings. Bloody is an understatement. I’ll check out some of the other books suggested at the local library.
Thanks to all!
The text my Colonial Latin America professor preferred:
Her writing style is not for everyone - I prefer my history a bit dryer and more stuffy. The comment one of the reviewers makes there about her prose is accurate IMHO. However I was minority in this in my classroom ( most loved it ) and in terms of factual information it’s as rigorously accurate as any.
Jennings described the Aztec game of tlachtli as played by hitting the ball with knees and elbows only. I once saw a short film in a Los Angeles art museum that showed the game being played with hips only. But, that might or might not be a mistake; the Mesoamerican ballgame was played by several different cultures with variant rules.
Once Mixtli was told by one of the Spaniards that they served a ruler whose name Mixtli rendered phonetically as “Kincarlos.” Since they were Spanish-speakers, that should have been "Reycarlos." But that’s a minor hiccup.
I thought I had spotted an error in that Jennings has his Aztecs ascribe the long-abandoned city of Teotihuacan to a vanished race whom the Aztecs called the “Tolteca,” meaning “Master Artisans,” because they did not know what name the builders called themselves – even though the Toltecs, based in Tula, were a civilization with whom the Aztecs had had contact only a few generations back. But that may not be a mistake either – it appears the word “toltec” may have had more than one meaning for the Aztecs, and is not used with clear precision even by modern historians and archaeologists. And nobody knows, even today, what nation or culture built Teotihuacan.
Involves plot spoiler of Aztec, if anyone really cares:
The part that I really wondered about was the whole “skin the beautiful young maiden and wear her skin in a religious ceremony” bit. Sounded to me like yer typical Beach Read/bodice ripper/softcore porn I-made-it-up-just-for-the-book thing, the author needing a tragically gruesome and startling way to do in the Love Interest in order to set his 400-page Beach Read/bodice ripper/softcore porn opus apart from all the dozens of other 400-page BR/br/scp that came out that summer.
I doubt whether there’s any archaeological evidence to support something like that. I suppose fiction writers are free to extemporize from the known facts, the known facts being human sacrifice, but…day-um.
Xipe Totec, the “Flayed God” of the Aztecs. Priests would wear the flayed skin of sacrificial victims in homage to him. Note that the “crinkly” effect on the statue is the dried up skin of the victim.
My username, BTW, was inspired by Blood Glutton, Mixtli’s drill instructor/arms tutor in Aztec.
IIRC that was his daughter, not his love interest, minor detail
Oh, ick.
