The Conquistadores, Osprey Men-At-Arms 101.
Written by Terence Wise, Color Plates by Angus McBride,
Copyright 1980, 40 pages.
Scope - Vast
Completeness – Low
Appeal –high
Accuracy –I know of no mistakes in this work.
First, just to get it out there, the copy I am using to form
my opinion is an old one, apparently a first printing. The newer copies have both a number for the
work’s place in the series and a different cover, although the cover print is
still one of the color prints included in the work. I’m assuming the contents
are otherwise the same. Should someone know otherwise, please let me know.
This is an old school Osprey book, over 30 years old. When
written it seems to have been an attempt to provide an insight, a glimpse, into
a very colorful and little known episode into a difficult to research
historical conflict. Although it definitely served this purpose with me, it’s
worth mentioning that today there are other, deeper, more far reaching sources
for the same material, including new publications from Osprey. Nevertheless,
this one stays in print, and with good reason. –why shouldn’t it stay in print?
So? What’s included in these mere 40 pages. As one would
expect, a lot, but not much of it.
Okay, we have a few page introduction to the “age of the
conquistadores,” the period during which Spanish soldiers contacted, explored,
and conquered much of the Americas including the powerful and wealthy empires
of the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru. To me, this has always been one
of the most exciting and amazing episodes in history. Next we have a roughly
ten page description of who these Conquistadores ( “conquerors” as the term
would be translated into English) were and what they wore, and how they fought,
and how they were equipped. This is followed by a roughly eight page
introduction to the same information about the Aztecs and some of the
neighboring peoples who fought in their conflict with the Spanish. Next we have
10 pages on the Incas. At the very end of the book, we have roughly three and a
half pages on the Mayans of Central America and southern Mexico.
Clearly, one cannot cover the arms, armor, tactics and
logistics of the Aztecs and their neighbors in 8 pages. (As an aside, let me
recommend the University of Oklahoma book, “Aztec Warfare –Imperial Expansion
and Political Control, by Ross Hassig, if you wish more detail and depth on
this. Although I can’t guarantee it’s the best book on the subject, it’s one I
have read and did get a lot from.) But
what it does say is quite interesting and a good introduction.
The illustrations are quite nice, both the black and white
line drawings and photos as well as the color plates.
I was disappointed, however, as at least some of the Spanish
Conquistadores exploits, notably Ponce De Leon’s explorations of Florida in
search of the fountain of eternal youth, or Coronado’s exploration of the
southwestern USA in search of the fabled seven cities of gold, are not
mentioned at all. This book is a good, yet light, introduction to the topic. Be
aware, however, that there’s so much more there.
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