Townsend and Anthony have compiled a fascinating collection of essays and translations of Nahuatl texts from the early sixteenth century that provide us with an exciting set of views on the aftermath of the Spanish invasion of 1519. The scholars represented in this volume offer a unique and sensitive understanding of Nahuatl and bring those insights to us in their descriptions and explanations. Townsend and Anthony have done a fine job of explaining the use of the term “Aztec” and how they have chosen to represent Nahuatl words in the book. Not everyone will agree on each of these points, but credit should be given to them for outlining these nuances at the start of the book. Also to their credit, they have provided Nahuatl abstracts for each of the chapters, and there is a companion website to the book for those who wish to explore its themes more.

In the introduction the underlying philosophy of the book is outlined as not only the search for and study of Nahuatl language manuscripts from the early colonial period as free from European involvement as possible, but also an understanding of the context in which they were written. The text devoid of our best understanding of its context is like taking an artifact from an archeological site without documenting exactly where it was found. Robbed of context, it is often just a piece of pottery, not an insight into the lives of the people who made it. Without context, the documents are just words on a page.

This collection is organized chronologically, with the earliest chapter dating from the time of the Spanish invasion while the last contribution is a tale from the early seventeenth century that looks back to the age of the conquest. The essays themselves present a Nahuatl text from the postinvasion period along with an analysis of the text and explication of the context. In addition to the eight essays of this type, five scholars have written bilingual pieces (Nahuatl and English) that also serve to expand our understanding of the cultural context of the selected Nahuatl documents. They represent the yancuic tlahtolli (new words/speech) of scholars whose first language is Nahuatl. In this way, the volume provides a rich elaboration not just of the analysis of early texts but of the larger transhistorical context and implications of the documentation.

This is a very valuable piece, filled with unique and exciting conclusions.