Review by Choice Review
Upon their first glimpse of the island city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan in November 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés and his comrades marveled at the magnificence of the alien urban landscape before them. Soon thereafter, the conquistador laid siege to the island capital of the Mexica (Aztec) empire at the head of an army of Spanish soldiers and between 80,000 and 200,000 Tlaxcaltecan and other Mexican Indian allies. While Cortés represented the razing of the island capital as constituting a total erasure, questions remain about the extent of the destruction and the role of 16th-century Indigenous elites in the transformation of the urban landscape now constituting Mexico City. With a cartographer's sensibilities and a streetwise art historian's presence of mind, Mundy (Fordham Univ.) has produced a formidable reimagining of the Indigenous landscapes that underpin the growth of the largest metropolis in the American hemisphere. Using Mexico City as her palette, Mundy draws on period representations, including text, cartography, pictographs, codices, featherworks, paintings, and period landmarks to establish the pivotal role of the Aztec leadership in defining and redefining the sacred geography and civic-ceremonial configurations of the early colonial city. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic levels/libraries. --Ruben G. Mendoza, California State University, Monterey Bay
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review