In Conquistadors, journalist and filmmaker Michael Wood (In Search of the Trojan War) travels the routes of the Spanish explorers and conquerors (and often by the same means, including a homemade balsa raft on Coca River rapids) the length and breadth of South and Central America and some of North America as well. With photos, maps and illustrations adorning nearly every page, the book examines records of the conquests both by the invaders and the native peoples. A 1613 letter from Peruvian historian Waman Poma to the king of Spain appealing for humane treatment of Indians, Gonzalo Pizarro's catalogue of the infamous El Dorado misadventures, Cabeza de Vaca's account of crossing North America and Geronimo de Aguilar's diary of the Night of Tears (when Aztecs fought back and killed 600 Spaniards) are among the numerous firsthand accounts Wood presents. (Univ. of California, $27.50 288p ISBN 0-520-23064-7) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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