George Alfred Henty was a productive English novelist and special correspondent. He is known for his historical adventure stories that were popular in the late 19th century.
The conquest of Mexico by a small band of decisive men ruled by Cortez is always considered to be one of the most romantic and adventurous feats in history. With this as the ground-work of his story Mr. Henty has involved the adventures of an English youth, Roger Hawkshaw, the only survivor of the good ship Swan, which had sailed from a Devon port to challenge the mercantile supremacy of the Spaniards in the New World. He is surrounded by lots of hazzards among the natives, but is saved by his own judgement and strength, and by the devotion of an Aztec princess. At last with the help of a certain trick he gets the protection of the Spaniards, and after the fall of Mexico he manages to regain his native shore, with a fortune and a charming Aztec bride. The book contains numerous maps, vocabularies and questions. The author succeeded to show the true reasons behind Cortez's conquest, and that’s the first thing why you will like this book.