Montezuma confronts the Spanish conquistadors intent on destroying his civilization.

'An invisible tremor ran through the Aztecs on the rooftops, a breathless gasp of excitement. On the edge of the city the drummers struck up their rhythm. They were coming.'

With its vast cities, soaring pyramids and glittering treasure, the Aztec Empire was one of the greatest civilizations in the world, at once beautiful and terrible. At its head was the Emperor Montezuma, master of millions, who spoke with the voice of the gods and fed the sun with the blood of his prisoners. Yet Montezuma was troubled by terrifying omens. And when Spanish explorers landed on his shore to seek their fortunes, nothing would ever be the same again.