Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España
Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España is a first-person narrative written in 1568 by military adventurer, conquistador, and colonist settler Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492–1584), who served in three Mexican expeditions: those of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (1517) to the Yucatán peninsula; the expedition of Juan de Grijalva (1518); and the expedition of Hernán Cortés (1519) in the Valley of Mexico. The history relates his participation in the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
Title page of a 1632 edition
Bernal Díaz del Castillo was a Spanish conquistador who participated as a soldier in the conquest of the Aztec Empire under Hernán Cortés and late in his life wrote an account of the events. As an experienced soldier of fortune, he had already participated in expeditions to Tierra Firme, Cuba, and to Yucatán before joining Cortés.
Memorial to Bernal Díaz del Castillo in Medina del Campo, Spain
Title page of the 1632 edition of the Historia verdadera