This book is a vivid and comprehensive account of the Aztecs, the best-known people of pre-Columbian America. It examines their origins, civilization, and the distinctive realms of their religion, science and thought. It describes the conquest of their empire by the Spanish, and their present-day survival in Central Mexico. It makes use of the results of the latest excavations, of all available historical documentation, and of the author's first-hand knowledge of Aztec sites and artifacts. Aztec civilization was forged by ...
Read More
This book is a vivid and comprehensive account of the Aztecs, the best-known people of pre-Columbian America. It examines their origins, civilization, and the distinctive realms of their religion, science and thought. It describes the conquest of their empire by the Spanish, and their present-day survival in Central Mexico. It makes use of the results of the latest excavations, of all available historical documentation, and of the author's first-hand knowledge of Aztec sites and artifacts. Aztec civilization was forged by the blending of two different cultural traditions: the ancient agricultural civilizations of Central Mexico and the immigrant warrior tribes from the northern deserts. Michael Smith describes the Aztecs' rapid ascent to regional power. He shows how, in order to feed their several million people, they transformed the landscape - digging canals, draining swamps, and terracing hillsides. From the fruits of these labors sprang craft specialists whose technological and design skills supplied goods for the market-places of every city, town, and village. The author uses new evidence to reconsider the luxurious lifestyles of the nobility and the role of their castles as seats of government for the empire's city-states. He reinterprets the role of religion in imperial rule and daily life and, in explaining the Aztecs' frequent rituals of human sacrifice, shows how central these were to the workings of their society. The concluding chapters of the book describe the arrival of Cortes in 1519, his conquest of the empire, and the spread of European diseases which decimated the population and brought the Aztec civilization to an end. Yet the Aztec people and language survived, and form, as the author reveals, a vital part of contemporary Mexican culture.
Read Less
Add this copy of The Aztecs to cart. $2.70, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Wiley-Blackwell.
Add this copy of Aztecs (Peoples of America) to cart. $5.72, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Wiley-Blackwell.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.
Add this copy of Aztecs (Peoples of America) to cart. $9.00, good condition, Sold by Midtown Scholar Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Harrisburg, PA, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Wiley-Blackwell.
Add this copy of The Aztecs to cart. $10.00, like new condition, Sold by Abacus Bookshop rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pittsford, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1996 by Blackwell Publishers.
Add this copy of Aztecs to cart. $10.00, like new condition, Sold by Rain Dog Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bloomington, IL, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Wiley-Blackwell.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 8vo. 352 pp. Peoples Of America. We specialize in fine books in collectible condition. Orders are professionally packaged and shipped promptly. M34.
Add this copy of Aztecs (Peoples of America) to cart. $15.01, like new condition, Sold by Goldstone Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Ammanford, CARMS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1997 by Wiley-Blackwell.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Add this copy of The Peoples of America: the Aztecs to cart. $19.88, like new condition, Sold by The Blue Penguin rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from FRODSHAM,, CHESHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1996 by Blackwell.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine in Near Fine jacket. Dustwrapper, pp. xx, 361. Bw ills. Small inscription on front pastedown. Inner sleeve of wrapper a bit creased on inside. Near fine in wrapper. Size: 64mo-up to 3" tall.
Add this copy of The Aztecs to cart. $25.00, like new condition, Sold by Murphy-Brookfield Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Iowa City, IA, UNITED STATES, published 1996 by Blackwell Pub.
Add this copy of Aztecs (Peoples of America) to cart. $30.68, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Wiley? Blackwell.
Add this copy of Aztecs (Peoples of America) to cart. $67.50, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Wiley-Blackwell.
Smiths book on the Aztecs is the result of a long career of archaeological research in the central Mexico. The author is among the archaeologists who have contributed most to the archaeological study of the aztecs. At the same time he is well versed in the ethnohistorical sources of postconquest Mexico . While most other authors writing about the aztecs use only the ethnohistorical sources and dedicate their studies to their interpetation Smith reads the souces in the light of archaeology. This is reason that Smiths book is so different from other introductions to the aztec culture and also why it is so important. When other introductions to the aztecs write about archeology it is normally only the monumental archaeology and mostly its religious and mythical interpretation, something that also doesn't lack in Smiths book. But whereas other descriptions of aztec daily life and material culture has normally been based on ethnographic descriptions from the sixteenth century Smith bases his description of excavations of actual aztec homes and the material culture revealed here. The books strength is exactly this. If it has a weakness this is also it - sometimes it doesn't give as deep an account of the ethnohistorical sources as other books on he subject do. Michael Smiths "The Aztecs" is reccomendable to any student of mesoamerican cultures and of the aztecs in particular, and no serious aztec scholar should remain unaware of the information it contains.
