The mighty Aztecs Author:Gene S Stuart Brilliant as it was cruel, the Aztec sun shone over ancient Mexico only briefly before being eclipsed by events of history. The mighty Aztecs grew from a wandering, desperate band calling themselves Mexica, who first appeared in the Valley of Mexico about A.D. 1200. They were considered barbarians by the settled peoples of the valley and forced ... more »out to the marshy islets of Lake Texcoco. Undaunted by hardship, the Mexica named their new home Tenochtitlan and made it the hub of an empire.
Author Gene Stuart recounts the pride and pathos of their story as she wanders the land the Mexica. She visits vast ruins of temple pyramids, urban centers now standing in deserted silence. She explores the intricate and beautiful highlands where Mexica armies marched in their "wars of flowers" - ritual battles to obtain victims for sacrifice to rapacious gods. For, in the Aztec universe, the sun would not rise without an offering of human hearts.« less