On November 8, 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés first met Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, at the entrance to the capital city of Tenochtitlan. This introduction—the prelude to the Spanish seizure of Mexico City and to European colonization of the mainland of the Americas—has long been the symbol of Cortés’s bold and brilliant military genius. Montezuma, on the other hand, is remembered as a coward who gave away a vast empire and touched off a wave of colonial invasions across the hemisphere. But is this really what happened? This book takes us through this sweeping, revisionist account of a pivotal moment in modern civilization. It calls into question our view of the history of the Americas, and, indeed, of history itself. "Serious scholarship that is impossible to put down." - Publishers Weekly. The author has a well-earned reputation as a myth-buster in the history of the New World. . . . A lively, original, and readable book aimed at a wider audience. . . . A remarkable achievement. - Wall Street Journal