Independent scholar Hassig analyzes the campaigns, negotiations, tools of war and politics on both sides of the equation and finds that the Spanish were not so much the victors over the Aztecs as they were the victors over other indigenous people who the Spanish set up as the victors over the Aztecs. He covers the Spanish point of view of the conquest, the situation imposed upon others by the Aztecs, the means of procuring indigenous warriors, support staff and others who carried out campaigns, the attempts to capture Tenochtitlan and the final conquest, and the aftermath for the indigenous people who had fought, in essence, for the Spanish. He includes biographical sketches and a glossary. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)