The Conquest of New Spain

Why it’s on the list: A foot soldier’s account of the conquest of Mexico, written decades later in old age partly to correct the court historians who gave Cortés all the credit. Primary-source history with a grudge, which is what makes it readable.

No page_count: Díaz’s manuscript was written c. 1568 and first printed in 1632, and the many modern translations (the standard Penguin Classics edition is J. M. Cohen’s) differ too much in length to state one figure. source_published records first publication, not composition.

Where I saw it: In the reply thread to @typesfast’s question, “What’s the best history book you’ve read?” (June 5, 2025) — a crowd-sourced list Kyle recovered by hand and saved to his Apple Note “Books To Read”; the full set of replies lives on What’s the best history book… (tweet). It was listed there as “The Conquest of New Spain”.

Connections

• Mexico — the conquest of Tenochtitlan, from inside the Spanish column.
• Conquistador — the modern narrative history of the same campaign, named in a different thread Kyle saved.
• History — a useful case in how a participant’s memory competes with an official record.
• What’s the best history book… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.