SOURCE: An introduction to The True History of the Conquest of Mexico, by Bernal Díaz del Castillo, translated by Maurice Keatinge, Robert M. McBride & Company, 1927, pp. v-xv.

In this introduction to the second edition of Maurice Keatinge's translation of Díaz, Smith argues that Díaz described the "expedition to Mexico [as essentially democratic, " as opposed to Francisco López de Gómara's glorification of Cortés alone.]

Stout, old Bernal Diaz del Castillo may have been a good soldier—he very ingenuously says that he was; he certainly was an excellent chronicler. Without his Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España we should know nothing of the more intimate aspects of one of the world's most dramatic episodes. We should have no sources of first-hand information on the day-to-day experiences of the men who waded through blood and agony to the greatest achievement...