"A collection of pathbreaking essays on Aztec and Maya culture in the sixteenth century"--Provided by publisher. "Tenochitlan, the Aztec city, was the creation of war. The courage and stamina of its young fighting men was indisputable. In the title work of this pathbreaking collection of essays, Inga Clendinnen discusses why warfare was so central to Aztec society and the ways in which the Aztecs understood their relationship to the forces governing the world and the heavens. Aztec rhetoric and Aztec ritual were unified in the endeavor to sustain a social order sufficiently in harmony with the natural order. Subsequent essays examine the survival of Yucatec Maya culture under Spanish conquest, the role of "religion" in sixteenth-century Mexico, and Hernando Cortes and the conquest of Mexico. "--Provided by publisher.