Highlighting the long and intricate history behind the myths and legends of the Aztecs, the Mayans, the Toltecs and the Olmecs.

Gorgeous Collector''s Edition. Mesoamerican culture is rooted in the region of modern Mexico where some 3500 years ago ancient peoples called the Olmecs farmed, created beautiful art and pottery at roughly the same time as the Middle Kindom Ancient Egyptians, the Babylonians and a little after the Indus Valley societies of India. From the Olmecs grew many different groups, amongst them the sophisticated Mayans 200 years after the beginning of the Common Era. In turn they would be superceded by the Toltecs, during the long period that the Vikings swept across the length of Europe in search of silver.

Another precious metal, gold, was plentiful in the Americas, the control of which was mastered by the successors of the Toltecs, the Aztecs, also known as the Mexica, who grew to dominate the region from the 13th to the 15th Century. Soon they would lend their name to the a great new city, Mexico. This new book traces the migrations of the early peoples, and the development of the many rich and varied societies of Mesoamerica, ending tragically with arrival of the Spanish explorers hungry for land, and for Aztec gold.

Flame Tree Collector''s Editions present the foundations of speculative fiction: authors, myths, tales and history without which the imaginative literature of the twentieth century would not exist, bringing the best, most influential and most fascinating works into a striking and collectable library. Each book features a new Introduction and a Glossary of Terms or lists of Ancient Leaders.