A Traveller's History of Mexico - Softcover

Kenneth Pearce begins with life before the major civilisations of the area took hold, and then shows the growth of the first elite groups of the Olmecs and Mayans. Their culture was finally subsumed into the mighty Aztec Empire which, in its turn, was tragically ended by the arrival of Cortes and might of Spain. The crushing burden of colonial rule driven by greed and oppression leads to further unrest for many centuries. The 19th century War of Independence finally leads to the founding of the Mexican Republic. The author ends his survey with a portrait of the country facing the next millennium with a rising population and problems with drugs and corruption.

Kenneth Pearce is the author of THE VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE TEMPLE: ANCIENT MAYA CIVILIZATION AND MODERN MAYA CULTURE published by the University of New Mexico. The book traces the religious beliefs of the contemporary cultures of Mexico and Guatemala to those of the ancestral Maya. His current project develops the rise and fall of the Aztec Empire from archival documents written by descendants of Mexican royalty and other ruling groups in the Valley of Mexico.