Calavar; or, The Knight of The Conquest, A Romance of Mexico

"Calavar; or, The Knight of The Conquest, A Romance of Mexico" by Robert Montgomery Bird is a historical tale that plunges into the clash between Spain and the Aztec Empire during the early 1500s. It paints a vivid picture of Hernán Cortés's arrival in Mexico and the resulting collision of cultures. The book grapples with big ideas like what it means to be civilized, what honor truly is, and the messy, complicated nature of taking over another land. We meet Don Amador de Leste, a Spaniard full of big dreams and a belief that the native people are beneath him, as he sails toward Mexico hoping for adventure and to change a culture. His conversations hint at the bigger story to come and his important place in it when we learn about a relative of Amador’s, named Calavar, who needs saving from the turmoil of the conquest.