The Teacher Is In. On the shores of the Yucatan, Cortes first saw the Mayan pyramids.
Wood continues west to the frontier between the Mayan and Aztec worlds.
The Aztecs greeted Cortes with gifts of gold, an act that sealed their fate. Trekking over the mountains in torrential storms, Wood wonders how this small band of Spanish adventurers overthrew an empire of millions, and why the Aztec ruler Montezuma believed the Spanish were gods. In 1532, conquistador Francisco Pizarro uncovered this civilization, which extended 3,000 miles from Ecuador to Chile. Wood traces Pizarro's daring march into Peru with fewer than 200 men. Following ancient Inca desert roads, Wood climbs the Andes with a train of llamas, ascending fairy-tale peaks overlooking the Pacific coast.