The broken spears the aztec account of the conquest of mexico is a book by miguel leon portilla translating selections of nahuatl language accounts of the spanish conquest of the aztec empire it was first published in spanish in 1959 and in english in 1962 the most recent english edition was published in 2007 the english language title the broken spears comes from a phrase in one version of the annals of tlatelolco xaxamatoc omitl according to historian james lockhart this is a . The broken spears of miguel leon portilla describes the spanish conquest of mexico and the struggle of the aztecs to protect their cultural space in those times the book is structured under three main events the resources that miguel portilla used to describe this town and their culture the resistance of the aztecs and the global reaction after the heralded spanish conquest. Four times the aztecs attempted to conquer the tarascans of western mexico and four times they were beaten decisively only small nahua enclaves existed on or near the pacific coast and there is room for grave doubt that they were attached to the confederacy of the culhua mexia this is not a serious error. Amazoncom the broken spears the aztec account of the conquest of mexico 9780807055007 miguel leon portilla lysander kemp j jorge klor de alva books. In the broken spears by miguel leon portilla we learn about the aztecs and how they were viciously conquered by the spaniards we are introduced to the ruler of the aztecs known as moctecuhzoma in this book it tells us from the beginning how the spaniards began to make their way into tiny mexican villages