La Ciudad de los Dioses [With CD] [Spanish]

This level two book has a controlled vocabulary of 700 words. This book is good to read aloud. In fact, Transparent Language's "Language Now" cd-rom program has used this title as a reading selection It is written as a diary of the secretary of Hernando Cortes. It is about Moctezuma and the fall of Tenochtitlán and the Aztec Empire. It gives a surprisingly unbiased perspective. It is to me very impressive that with such a limited vocabulary, that not only the story but the emotions can be conveyed so effectively.It whetted my imagination to learn more about the Spanish Conquest and characters such as Malinche (Cortes' interpreter, secretary, mistress, who remains to this day a symbol of treachery to the Mexican people).