HIDDEN WORLD OF THE AZTEC

The latest stop in his photographic tour of ancient American civilizations brings Lourie to excavations beneath the streets of both Mexico City and the pre-Aztec ruins of Teotihuacan. Prefacing each short chapter with a passage of usually rather valedictory Aztec poetry, he offers brief visitor’s impressions while following archeologists into digs at the Great Temple and later, the Pyramid of the Moon. He fills in historical background with notes on Aztec society (not quite as blood-soaked, he suggests, as often portrayed) and an account of Cortés’s catastrophic arrival. A generous array of big color photos range from pictures of modern cityscapes to huge preserved ancient structures, from vivid manuscript illustrations and stone carvings to engaging scenes of scientists engrossed in their careful work. Writing with contagious enthusiasm, the author will kindle in readers the same wonder he feels at the way clues to our shared past are being found in these places nearly every day. (bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-12)