Berdan (California State U. at San Bernardino) presents an ethnographic reconstruction of Aztec culture in the period immediately preceding the arrival Spanish conquistadors. The work relies primarily on Nahautl and Spanish documentary sources produced at the time of and shortly after the conquest. Over the course of seven chapters, Aztec economic organization, social structure and dynamics, daily life, imperial politics and wars, religious organization and beliefs, and intellectual and artistic achievements are examined. An eighth and final chapter discusses the consequences of the arrival of the Spanish. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)