"The Broken Spears" by Miguel Leon-Portilla

In the book, "The Broken Spears", Miguel Leon-Portilla provides the reader with a chronological account of the events that lead up to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire in Mexico. Portilla takes the approach of discussing the entire war, battle by battle. On the contrary, Keen and Haynes, authors of "A History of Latin America", explain the four major aspects of the war that they feel ultimately led to the demise of the great Aztec Empire. They strongly believe that firearms, disease, differing world views, and internal division were the four main reasons that the Aztec empire was not successful in protecting its land and people. Although Keen and Haynes provide a very brief account of the events that took place over 500 years ago in native Mexico, their account is very similar to that of the translation provided by Leon-Portilla. Keen and Haynes draw out very specific and direct causes, while in "The Broken Spears", the entire ordeal is plotted from beginning to end with particular mishaps and miscalculations leading to the eventual downfall.…