The Conquistadors: A Very Short Introduction 1st Edition by Matthew Restall and, Felipe Fernández-Armesto (Oxford University Press)

I imagine many people will be frustrated that this is not micro-biographies of individual conquistadors, but more a broad picture sociological profile. If one approaches this book with this in mind, this does built a fairly comprehension picture to what a conquistador actually was. Restal and Fernandez-Armesto do a good job of constructing the context for both Spanish as well as Spanish-cultured African and Native conquistadors. A few myths are debunked along the way as well and individuals are discussed, but mostly for the contrast to the broader model. If taken as an introduction to the concept and context of the conquistadors instead of introductions to specific conquistadors, this book delivers in amble amounts.

With startling speed, Spanish conquistadors invaded hundreds of Native American kingdoms, took over the mighty empires of the Aztecs and Incas, and initiated an unprecedented redistribution of the world's resources and balance of power. They changed the course of history, but the myth they established was even stranger than their real achievements. This Very Short Introduction deploys the latest scholarship to shatter and replace the traditional narrative. Chapters explore New World civilizations prior to the invasions, the genesis of conquistador culture on both sides of the Atlantic, the roles black Africans and Native Americans played, and the consequences of the invasions. The book reveals who the conquistadors were and what made their adventures possible