1982, Harcourt, NY, 195 pages

Frances F. Berdan brings the discipline of anthropology and of literary critique to her unassuming chronicle of the social structure of the imperial nation of the Aztecs. The book is footnoted with the firsthand accounts of Aztecs and Spaniards from the 1500s, preserved in various universities, with the location and language status of translated primary sources noted, which is invaluable to this researcher in locating useful period accounts.

The European invasion occupies less than 10% of the text. Also, Berdan delves as far as possible into the literary mind of this extinct culture, revealing people less slavishly devoted to the concerns of immortal beings than we have generally considered:

“In their literature, the Aztecs expressed an interest in the lives and feats of mortals as well as in the exploits and powers of the gods. In their chronicles, they preserved the histories of entire peoples and the adventures of individual heroes, often in intimate and vivid detail…”

In interpreting the activities of the subjects of Montezuma as described by Bernal Diaz, in his history, Frances F. Berdan’s work has been ever upon my desk.

If you can find a copy of the Aztecs of Central Mexico, I suggest the reader interested in Bernal Diaz and his adventures, I suggest you read it.