Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico

In 1519, Hernán Cortés lands on the coast of Mexico with a small expedition whose ambitions exceed the authority granted to it. The march inland exposes the Spaniards to unfamiliar languages, terrain, political systems and forms of warfare, while mutiny and divided loyalties threaten the enterprise from within. Doña Marina—La Malinche—becomes interpreter, negotiator and indispensable intermediary as Cortés builds Indigenous alliances against the power centred on Tenochtitlan.

The novel follows the encounter with Moctezuma II through the violence at Cholula and Tóxcatl, the retreat remembered as La Noche Triste and the final siege of Tenochtitlan. Cortés’s ambition, Malinche’s position between cultures and Moctezuma’s uncertain responses are presented through a narrative based on accounts from participants and later historical research. The work first appeared in Spanish as Hernán Cortés. Noches tristes, días de gloria before its English publication as Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico.