Bernal Díaz del Castillo (14951584) served under Cortés through the entire Mexican campaign, and his narrative is both an invaluable document and a spectacular epic. Del Castillo saw Cortés sink his own ships (to prevent desertion) as soon as they landed on Mexican soil, and watched Montezuma become a prisoner in his own palace. The immediacy of his voice as translated by renowned scholar A.P. Maudslay reaches across the centuries to invite readers to witness for themselves the horrors and wonders of the initial, apocalyptic clash between two great civilizations.