An Unofficial 'The Rest Is History' Reading List

Hugh Thomas

3 books referenced

Books by Hugh Thomas

Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés, and the Fall of Old Mexico

Referenced in 2 episodes

390. The Fall of the Aztecs: War to the Death (Part 7)

November 20, 2023

Context:

Tom mentions reading this book as a child, describing it as 'Hugh Thomas' enormous, great brick of an account of the Spanish conquest.' Dominic notes it's 'about 7,000 pages long' and 'weirdly both very, very detailed and oddly a bit boring.' Tom specifically remembers the Quetzal Owl warrior episode from this book.

384. The Fall of the Aztecs: The Adventure Begins (Part 1)

November 06, 2023

Context:

Dominic references Hugh Thomas's 'huge book on the conquest of Mexico,' noting that many historians now question some of its conclusions because Thomas takes Spanish sources at face value

Conquest

Referenced in 2 episodes

386. The Fall of the Aztecs: The City of Gold (Part 3)

November 09, 2023

Context:

Explicitly mentioned: 'If you read Hugh Thomas's book, Conquest' in the context of discussing what sources say about Montezuma's supposed surrender speech

385. The Fall of the Aztecs: The Woman Who Changed The World (Part 2)

November 07, 2023

Context:

Mentioned as one of the sources readers might have consulted about the story of Cortez and Moctezuma, specifically in the context of discussing the myth that the Aztecs thought the Spanish were gods.

Rivers of Gold

Referenced in 3 episodes

308: Columbus: Death in the Caribbean (Part 3)

February 27, 2023

Context:

Referenced when discussing the incident where Columbus gave a captured indigenous girl to Miguel Cuneo. The historian Hugh Thomas (Lord Thomas) described Cuneo's account as 'the first account of lovemaking in the new world' - a characterization the hosts note would not be written today, as it would now be recognized as describing rape.

307: Columbus: A New World? (Part 2)

February 23, 2023

Context:

Referenced as a source about the Spanish conquests. The hosts mention that Hugh Thomas notes in this book that if Columbus had not agreed to change course, they would have landed on Florida instead of the Bahamas.

306: Columbus: The Adventure Begins (Part 1)

February 20, 2023

Context:

Referenced when discussing Columbus presenting his documents to the Spanish monarchs, with the author imagining 'the scene of Columbus getting out these tattered documents that he's been exhibiting around Europe'