	Login Cart Advanced Search
Our List Bestsellers Current Bestsellers All-Time Bestsellers Activism General Economic Justice Environmental Justice Education Reform Racial Justice Community Action Immigration Reform American Society General Anthropology Cultural Studies General Latin American Native American Myths Made In America Economics Law and Society Philosophy Sociology Sports and Society Child and Family Issues Adoption General Media and Technology Beacon Classics Biography and Memoir Autobiography and Memoir Biography Disability Disability Environment and Conservation Energy and Climate Conservation Food and Agriculture Wildlife Nature and Environment Concord Library Series Gardening General Biography and Memoir Feminism and Gender Feminism Gender Women's History Women's Literature Black Women Writers Bluestreak Series General Women's Lives Sexuality Biography and Memoir History American History General Early American History 19th Century American History 20th Century American History 21st Century American History African American History General The King Legacy ReVisioning History Adult Editions Young Readers Editions World History Africa Asia Central and South America Europe Middle East Literature and the Arts Fiction Poetry Nonfiction General Essays Food and Society Letters Memoirs Queer Perspectives Multicultural Interest African American Asian American Caribbean Latin American Middle Eastern Native American South Asian By Series Black Women Writers Bluestreak Concord Writers Young Adult Music The Arts National Poetry Series Raised Voices Poetry Series Politics and Current Events Politics and Current Events Progressive Education LGBT Issues Books for K-12 Classroom Use Teaching and the Classroom Higher Education History of Education Race and Education School Reform and Policy Race Education Democracy Series Queer Perspectives Education and Youth Fiction General Memoir Religion and Sexuality Queer Ideas Queer Action Transgender Perspectives Transgender Voices Also of Interest Race and Ethnicity in America General African American History African American Literature Fiction and Poetry Nonfiction Black Women Writers Celebrating Black Women Writers King Legacy Series Race Education Democracy Series Religion How We Live Our Beliefs Pluralism Buddhism Christianity African American Theology Catholicism Early Christianity General Protestant Islam Judaism Unitarian Universalism World Religions Gender and Sexuality Inspiration Science and Medicine Public Health Medicine Science Psychology Women's Health YA and Children's Audiobooks Books by Mary Oliver Poetry and Prose Audiobooks Spring 2025 Summer 2025 Fall 2025 Blog About About Beacon Address and Directions Awards Booksellers and Librarians Catalogs Staff Distribution Sales and Ordering Submission Guidelines Contact Customer Service Author Appearances Jobs and Internships Media Requests Rights and Permissions Resources Book Banning Resources Desk and Exam Copy Information Reading Guides Teacher Guides Guides for UUs and Book Groups Social Impact

The Broken Spears

The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico

Author: Miguel León-Portillo

The revolutionary account of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, through the eyes of the vanished, challenging colonial narratives and centering Aztec voices

A limited Beacon Classics edition, with a gorgeous spot gloss cover and retro, classic palette

For hundreds of years, the history of the conquest of Mexico and the defeat of the Aztecs has been told in the words of the Spanish victors. This is only a small part of the full story. Miguel León-Portilla has long been at the forefront of expanding that history to include the voices of indigenous peoples. León-Portilla’s work translating and compiling the voices contained within the pages of The Broken Spears has been revered since the book’s original Spanish publication in 1959 and original English publication in 1962.

In this new edition of his classic, León-Portilla’s work to unearth the voices of Aztec people from the past and the present continues to illuminate untold realities of colonization. His work includes accounts from those present at the time of the conquest of Mexico and has been expanded to include accounts from native Aztec descendants across the centuries since. These texts bear witness to the extraordinary vitality of an oral tradition that preserves the viewpoints of the vanquished instead of the victors.

Through these firsthand accounts from Aztec peoples, a new story about the conquest of Mexico unfolds. Portilla translates these stories, but he also investigates how these firsthand accounts came to be, remaining cognizant of what can be lost in translation, and the stakes of allowing history to be written by the victors.

The Broken Spears is an exemplary body of historical work that seeks to challenge the pervasiveness of colonial narratives and continues to shape the study of history to this day.