Between 1345 and 1521 C.E., the Aztec Empire flourished in what is now central ... Their routes, sources, and connections were a secret to people who were not part of their guilds.

A people who believed themselves at the center of a highly precarious universe were also inflicted with what Carrasco terms a "cosmic insecurity." The empire began from scratch. The first Aztec ...

Virtually all the accounts of the Aztec Empire were written by the Spaniards ... These are the documents of this defeated people, and through them, I think, we can hear the vanquished speak.

Cortes' journey to the Americas in search of gold ends in defeat for the Aztecs.