The Merriam-Webster online dictionary (www.merriam-webster.com) defines a handbook as “a concise reference book covering a particular subject.” They generally are composed of essays by experts on specific topics, created at a specific moment in time. In recent decades, handbooks have proliferated in step with the accelerating growth of knowledge about the world around us. As of 2018, Oxford University Press has over 1,000 handbooks in print, 39 dealing with various themes in archaeology alone. Handbooks are an excellent example of planned obsolescence: they are out of date by the time they go on sale. Nevertheless, a useful handbook should remain of value for at least a few decades. The Oxford Handbook of the Aztecs (OHA), the first such compilation devoted solely to that ancient society, is a very successful example of the genre.

The Handbook of Middle American Indians (HMAI) and its four supplements has been the standard reference in Mesoamerican studies since the first volume appeared in 1965. Our knowledge of ancient Mesoamerica has grown so dramatically since then that it is unlikely such a comprehensive work will ever be attempted in the future. Instead the recent trend has been to focus on narrower fields of knowledge. This work is an excellent example, and although Aztec scholarship will continue to advance at a rapid rate in the future, the OHA will remain an essential resource for decades to come.

Several factors account for the need for this volume at this point in time. First, extensive surface surveys and associated excavations in the Basin of Mexico, the Aztec inner hinterland, by William T. Sanders, Jeffrey R. Parsons, and their colleagues have created an unparalleled database on Aztec settlement. Second, the long-term projects by Mexico's INAH at the Templo Mayor and Tlatelolco provide information on the epicenter of the Aztec world to a degree unmatched by that for any other Mesoamerican center. These archaeological projects have in turn stimulated all sorts of new archaeological approaches to data as well as energizing studies in ethnohistory, religious studies, art history, archaeoastronomy and numerous other fields. The importance of this synergism was made clear to me during a recent trip to Cuzco and Machu Picchu. While Inka studies are in an exciting period of growth and may soon arrive to the point that calls for a handbook-style compilation, they are not there yet.

OHA editors Deborah L. Nichols and Enrique Rodríguez-Alegría are two well-respected scholars also known for their skills in compiling edited volumes. Those skills are evident in the tight organization and consistent readability of all the essays. In their Introduction, “Aztec Studies: Trends and Themes,” they provide an excellent summary and preview of the volume. Their purpose is to “show how Aztec scholars have taken advantage of the many lines of evidence available to them. This includes archaeological material, monuments and other works of art, architecture, and historical sources of both indigenous and European authorship in alphabetic as well as pictorial form” (p. 1).

The heart of the OHA consists of 49 essays organized into seven parts (Archaeology of the Aztecs; Historical Change; Landscape and Places; Economic and Social Relations in the Aztec Empire [Aztec Manufacturing, Social Relations]; Aztec Provinces, Friends and Foes; Ritual, Belief, and Religion; and Aztecs After the Conquest). This organization encompasses all the significant facets of what is known about the Aztecs while allowing authors sufficient space to describe both the consensus of what we know and the various points of debate. The limited number of illustrations adequately highlight points in the text. Complete references at the end of each essay allow interested readers to easily locate more images and explore the vast body of primary sources. Indeed, the references cited are an invaluable summation of Aztec scholarship.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to scholars, students, and interested nonprofessional readers. It is amazingly current with citations of very recent work, is for the most part quite readable, and sets the stage for the next era of Aztec studies.