Buy used:
$5.99
FREE delivery May 23 - 30. Details
Or fastest delivery May 17 - 22. Details
Used: Good | Details
Sold by ThriftBooks-Seattle
Condition: Used: Good
Comment: Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Jacques Soustelle
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Daily Life of the Aztecs Paperback – May 1, 2002

by Jacques Soustelle (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 24 ratings
See all formats and editions
The Aztecs were fierce, honorable, death-obsessed, and profoundly religious. A famed scholar evokes the life of this complex culture on the eve of its extinction, when the Spanish arrived and conquered them--imprisoning Montezuma and strangling Atahualpa. "It is, without question, the most brilliant, the clearest and most readable portrayal of Aztec life available in any language."--The Observer.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Phoenix
  4. Publication date
    May 1, 2002
  5. Dimensions
    5.75 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1842125087
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1842125083
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Phoenix (May 1, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1842125087
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1842125083
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.07 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 24 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Jacques Soustelle

Jacques Soustelle

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
24 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Roy K. Farber
5.0 out of 5 stars If Only I Could Give This 6 Stars!
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2011
Verified Purchase
This is not about the blood and guts we so often read, and is so very far removed from the 1st person perceptions of the Christian Conquistadors and those who have founded their version of reality thereon, and yet answers the central question of how so few such Uglies could kill so many and obliterate something as great as the Mexica Civilization. But Cortez is more of just a stopping point, the zenith of this civilization that was so rapidly maturing, becoming increasingly ever-finer, more dignified, literate, majestic, on its path to somewhere we'll now never know, with with rules of honorable behavior and thought that made them so unfortunately ill-prepared for the coming of The Aliens! Oh, but they had truly been Barbarians, we might all be speaking Nahuatl....

There are some Great Reviews here on Amazon of this very same book, only with the full title of Daily Life of the Aztecs on the Eve of the Spanish Conquest. Check those out &, yes, get this book!
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Gaselen
5.0 out of 5 stars The savages were not the Aztecs
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2013
Indeed, the savages were not the Aztecs...!
This book could be read like a novel. Jacques Soustelle was a great teacher (no wonder he was also a good politician). He deciphered for us the intricate ways of a "young" civilization that tragically meet people coming from Europe (one might say March?).
So, did you know that Mexican tamales were already on the Aztecs menu before 1500 ?
Do read a superb book!
Gd
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
larry
3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
If your an avid reader of Aztec history like me, there is nothing to learn in this book
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Christopher Hazell
4.0 out of 5 stars Utterly brilliant!
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2006
I'm a bit surprised nobody has yet reviewed this incredible book. Well, I might as well be the first.

The long short of it is: Anybody interested in Aztecs needs to read this book.

Soustelle ably demonstrates that there was more to Aztec society then war and human sacrifice, as he leads us first through the daily life of the average citizen of the Aztec empire, and from there goes on to talk about almost everything that a citizen could possibly come in contact with, from big things like the legal and educational systems, down to little things like what they ate where they went to the bathroom.

Soustelle's style is engaging and easy to read, and his immense admiration for the Aztecs is visible in nearly every sentence. In fact, sometimes it's almost too visible, as Soustelle doesn't really use the objective, detached style of writing that we modern readers are used to finding in history books. He often outright condemns both the Aztec merchant class and the Spanish conquistadors, which is a big no-no in history writing. That said, he spends most of the book examining subjects he admires, so these condemnations only occur in a few passages, and generally his enthusiasm for the subject matter is highly infectious. I'd be surprised if, after finishing this book, you didn't become a big Aztec booster.

There is only one other problem that kept me from giving the book a full five stars; it's a bit outdated. While the vast majority of information in Daily Life of the Aztecs is accurate, due to Soustelle's extensive use of primary sources, certain archeological evidence and ethnographical research has contradicted, or, more often expanded on Soustelle's understanding of Aztec life.

Because of this, you might want to select another more contemporary book as a companion to this one (If your library has a copy of the other Daily Life of the Aztecs, the one by David Carrasco and Scott Sessions, I recommend that one). I say companion because even though research on Aztec history has progressed since Soustelle's book was published in 1955, no modern book I have found comes close to having the breadth of subject matter or ease of reading as Daily Life of the Aztecs.
25 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Michael E. Smith
2.0 out of 5 stars Half-century old, outdated, textbook.
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2015
Why would someone want to buy an outdated textbook? This is a reprint (2002) of the original version (1962). Soustelle writes well and a good deal of the information is sound. But he also made many mistakes, and Aztec scholarship has advanced greatly since 1962. If you want a good book about the Aztecs, here are the three best (a completely unbiased view, of course!):

1. The Aztecs, by Michael E. Smith (3rd edition, 2012), Wiley-Blackwell. - Best book by an archaeologist.
2. The Aztecs of Central Mexico, by Frances Berdan (2nd edition, 2005), Thompson-Wadsworth - Best book by an ethnohistorian.
3. The Aztecs, by Richard Townsend (3rd edition, 2009, Thames & Hudson. - Best book by an art historian.
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

M
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2015
Verified Purchase
very good
Report