Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo - Volume 1

By: Bernal Díaz Del Castilllo, John Ingram Lockhart - translator
Narrated by: David Prickett
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £23.99

Buy Now for £23.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Relive the history, adventure, tension and dangers faced by the Conquistadors, led by Hernan Cortes - the Alexander of the Americas - as they make their way along the coast of the new world before delving deep into it’s heartland to clash wits and do battle with the mighty Aztec Emperor Moctesuma (aka Moctezuma, aka Montezuma).

This memoir is an autobiographical account of the events as witnessed by Bernal Diaz - a Conquistador on that journey - a man from Spain who desperately hoped to carve out a life of riches for himself in the new world and instead found himself on an epic journey of conquest, whilst desperately fighting to stay alive, in previously unknown and unimagined lands. This is a true tale written in his own hand and translated into English.

It is a gripping account of the events from the soldiers' viewpoint as each day becomes a battle for survival against incredible odds and could easily be mistaken for a work of fiction. Each chapter is filled with jaw dropping details of the journey into that world - a journey that has long since been forgotten and can now be rediscovered. It is a true tale of exploration, adventure and daring that recaptures the spirit of the age and the uncertainties of life as each side struggles to come to grips with the first cataclysmic meeting between two empires from the old and new worlds.

This is a chapter by chapter account of how these two powerful forces dealt with the knowledge of each others existence and is a very personal account of the journey of this one Conquistador. A tale made even more compelling by virtue of the fact that it is 100 percent true – yet 100 percent unbelievable.

Public Domain (P)2018 David Prickett
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

A Land So Strange cover art
Columbus cover art
The Conquest of the Incas cover art
Conquistador Voices cover art
Fifth Sun cover art
Absalom, Absalom! cover art
The Silmarillion cover art
Indestructible cover art
No Surrender cover art
Life on the Mississippi cover art
The Adventure of English cover art
For Whom the Bell Tolls cover art
Taliesin cover art
Undaunted Courage cover art
The German Aces Speak cover art
The Postman cover art

What listeners say about The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo - Volume 1

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An Excellent First Hand Account

I read the old penguin edition of this many years ago, and was fascinated by it at that time, so decided to invest in this.

What set's Diaz's account aside from many other military memoirs is that he was there at the centre of it, and for most of the Conquest of New Spain. He never puts himself at the centre of the narrative or blows his own trumpet - he was a simple soldier in the midst of an extraordinary enterprise. He is also very humble, and he is at pains to point out that his account will differ in some essentials from those of more August Personages, because, well, it is actually the truth. Obviously the truth is a variable commodity in any history, but the reader does believe that Diaz is describing the events as he saw them, rather than inserting any political or self promoting narrative.

What also drives it is the cataclysmic thrust of events. Even with the benefit of hindsight and modern attitudes, the Aztecs were a totalitarian, blood soaked culture impossible to like (sorry cuddly apologists -see what actual archaelogists say rather than the politically motivated portraying them as an innocent Alternative Culture), and Diaz gives a human face to the band of roughneck adventurers that brought their Empire down.

I was a little thrown by the Reader's accent at first (Australian? New Zealand? Not Spanish?) but once I'd got over that I sat back and enjoyed the narrative. Hopefully Volume Two is soon to follow.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful