The History of the Conquest of New Spain Available to Purchase

For a work that is so widely read, cited, and used in the classroom — arguably canonical to Latin American history — it is perhaps surprising that there are not more English-language editions in print of The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz del Castillo. One reason may be that the Penguin edition, first published in 1963, is so well known and there are so many copies available for just a few dollars. Another may be that the 1908 translation by Alfred P. Maudslay has stood the test of time; it is elegant and accurate, hardly in need of a replacement. A third reason may be that most scholars tempted by the challenge to create a new edition of Díaz’s book surely realize that what is needed is a comprehensive edition, not an abridged edition but a translation of the entire manuscript, complete with introductory...