Everyone is familiar with the figure of Hernan Cortés, almost every reader probably has an opinion about
his role in history, which is usually seen either in a very negative light
(above all in Mexico) or with uncritical admiration. Both versions are far from
the truth of the man’s life. Juan
Miralles has spent nearly thirty
years researching the person behind the conquistador and has now finally
handed over this exhaustive biography of
Cortés for publication. This new work contains the finest distillation of
first hand accounts and rejects doubtful or apocryphal elements to present a
thoughtful and critical portrait of this historical character.
Miralles has tried to recreate all of the aspects of Cortés’ life from the copious information to which he has had
access. There is no leaf left unturned in this search to get at the historical
truth through available documentation. It is all here, from the historical
context of Spain at the time (his nobility, his education during the Castilian
renaissance or the obsession of those times with the purity of blood) to a blow
by blow account of the conquest itself, seen from a heroic, military and human
perspective. Nor are the most private details of the man ignored here, such as
his emotional or love life, and this biography reveals an unhappy end, despite
his achievements, which moves the reader to sympathy if not commiseration.
Reading this book will also change our stereotypical images of the people and
events that surrounded him: the Aztec
Kings, his officers, the disputes between different indigenous peoples and
even of Bartolomé de Casas “The
Apostle of the Indians”, who is revealed to have been a capricious and
obnoxious person.
RIGHTS SOLD TO
Italy - Editorial Mondadori
Yugoslavia - Editorial Cigoja-Stampa (Serbia)