Aztec Influence Over Pre-Colonial Mexico Book Review by Nicky

In this article, the writer discusses that in his book "The Aztecs" Michael Smith addresses the Aztec civilization from the standpoint of archaeological evidence rather than the standpoint of conquering Spaniards. The writer explains that this helps to not only show the issues that the Aztecs faced and how they lived their lives, but it sheds new light on some aspects that might not have otherwise been addressed very clearly or very thoroughly in past books on their civilization. The writer maintains that this scholarly book is very accessible to the average reader as well, and the numerous sources that Smith cites give a lot of credibility to his argument. The paper notes that the illustrations also provide insight into the Aztec people and what things were like in Mexico during the time that they were in existence, and the organization of the book into separate chapters based on various issues of civilization and history make Smith's book much easier to follow than it could have otherwise been. The writer concludes that the issues that Smith looks at have a lot of relevance for people who are interested in the history of Mexico and the Aztec people overall.