When Montezuma Met Cortés

On November 8, 1519,  Hernando Cortés first met Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, in Tenochtitlan. This introduction has long been the symbol of Cortés’s military genius. Montezuma, on the other hand, is remembered as a coward who gave away a vast empire. But is this really what happened?

In a departure from traditional tellings, When Montezuma Met Cortés uses “the Meeting” as the entry point into a comprehensive reevaluation of both Cortés and Montezuma. As Restall takes us through this sweeping, revisionist account of a pivotal moment in modern civilization, he calls into question our view of the history of the Americas, and, indeed, of history itself.