Mexican History, need recommendations

[roni]

Looking for some good History of Mexico books--preferably written in English--I'll be able to read those a lot faster. Pre-european, after the initial Spanish invasion.....errr discovery, and modern.

thanks

Ron

[denisea]

Two classic Mexican history books are:

1. The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico by Bernal Diaz Del Castillo

   Diaz served under Hernan Cortes and his account is one of only four firsthand accounts about the Conquest. This book was the inspiration for William H. Prescott's History of the Conquest of Mexico.

2. History of the Conquest of Mexico by William H. Prescott

   Classic detailed account of the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

[roni]

Thanks D

R

[denisea]

De nada. There are many more history books depending what you're interested in, however, I'm beat and am heading off to bed now. I'll post some more either tomorrow or over the weekend. I've got a whole library full of Mexican books and I may have a few duplicates that I'd be willing to trade you for... say a bottle of Centenario... or a nice homecooked meal... if you're interested.

[roni]

Originally Posted by denisea

De nada. There are many more history books depending what you're interested in, however, I'm beat and am heading off to bed now. I'll post some more either tomorrow or over the weekend. I've got a whole library full of Mexican books and I may have a few duplicates that I'd be willing to trade you for... say a bottle of Centenario... or a nice homecooked meal... if you're interested.

I've been known to barter from time to time.

[roni]

Originally Posted by roni

I've been known to barter from time to time.

That is a true statement, but I have also been known to check books out of the library and read them before I decide to spend money adding them to my library

[Michele]

Slightly off topic - I just finished reading Where the Sky is Born by Jeanine Lee Kitchel. (I'm sure a lot of you already know this but...Jeanine and her husband were the original owners of Alma Libre in Puerto Morelos) It was a really fun summer read.
I had intended to bring it to Playa next weekend to read on the beach but it did not stay on my shelf for long. I read it on Wednesday....oooops. Anyway, I recommend it. The book is particularily fun if you know the area, even a little bit.

[denisea]

Originally Posted by roni

That is a true statement, but I have also been known to check books out of the library and read them before I decide to spend money adding them to my library

Nothing wrong with that... I have this problem with returning books in a timely fashion... so it's better for me to purchase them... costs me less in the long run. I'm a huge book freak... but I rarely ever purchase anything at full price... I never miss a local library book sale... you can get great books very inexpensively that way. We also have a great used book store... which I frequently almost weekly... if you don't like something you can trade it in for credit... they'll give you 50% of what they believe they can sell it for. If I've got room in our luggage, I'm bring a couple for you or whoever else might want them.

[AlmaLibre]

A good read about that period of time is "Aztec" by Gary Jennings. It is a fictionalized account of the conquest based on Jennings’s exhaustive research. Warning, it is very, very violent. It's a riveting read.

Just as an aside, we take trades at Alma Libre too!

[Joana]

Well- these are not really "History of all of Mexico"- BUT definately worth the read if one knows the Yucatan area and is interested in archaology......if you do you should definately check out John L. Stephens "Incidents of travel in Yucatan".
Him and his partner were on an expedition in Yucatan in 1841 and some of the first ones to set up an archaeological record of what they saw. Pretty interesting to read and also see daguerrotypes of the ruins of f.e. Chichen Itza how they looked when they were first rediscovered.
Also always recomendable is the Popol Vuh- somthing to bring the Mayan culture a bit closer.
And as well a book by Diego de Landa- title in English should be someting like "Report from Yucatan"...he was one of the missionaries who helped to destroy the Mayan culture- but by sending his report actually saved some of it!!
As- while his followers were doing their best to destroy the codices he wrote down things he dealt with down there...which leaves us with a report about the view of the Spaniards when they came in the country as well as a sum up of daily events so to speak.

The above mentioned Aztec is a very good book- there is also a sequel....the German title of that would translate into "The Aztecs son".

And in case you like contemporary Mexican literature- check out Laura Esquivels books......there is one with a title that should be something like "Bittersweet chocolate"- and that includes wonderful recipies!!

Ah well- hope this helped a bit....have tons more books on the Mayan culture...so if you want to I can scout my shelves some more.

[AlmaLibre]

The book that follows "Aztec" is titled in English "Aztec Autumn" and the third in the series is "Aztec Blood". The third was actually written after Gary Jennings died, based on his copious notes.