Michael Coe

Michael Coes Mexico, long recognized as the most readable and authoritative introduction to the regions ancient civilizations, has now been completely revised by Professor Coe and Rex Koontz. This seventh edition explores how several spectacular new discoveries have thrown more light on the Olmec culture, Mexicos earliest civilization. At the great city of Teotihuacan, recent investigations in the earliest monumental pyramid indicate the antiquity of certain sacrificial practices and the symbolism of the pyramid. The Huastec region of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico gets a much fuller accounting than in previous editions. Further discoveries in the sacred precinct of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan have allowed us to refine our understanding of the history and symbolism of this hallowed area.

Chocolate the food of the Gods has had a long and eventful history. Its story is expertly told here by the doyen of Maya studies, Michael Coe, and his late wife, Sophie. The book begins 3,000 years ago in the Mexican jungles and goes on to draw on aspects of archaeology, botany and socio-economics. Used as currency and traded by the Aztecs, chocolate arrived in Europe via the conquistadors, and was soon a favourite drink with aristocrats. By the 19th century and industrialization, chocolate became a food for the masses until its revival in our own time as a luxury item. The third edition of this classic book includes some tantalizing new data on the first cultivation of the cacao tree in the northwest Amazon, and the discovery of the chocolate process in southern Mesoamerica, long before the rise of the Olmecs. Chocolate has also been giving up some of its secrets to modern neuroscientists, who have been investigating how flavour perception is mediated by the human brain. And, finally, the book closes with two contemporary accounts of how chocolate manufacturers have (or have not) been dealing with the ethical side of the industry.

This authoritative volume has been revised throughout and expanded, with stunning new images and accounts of the major discoveries of recent years. Recent findings have been added to expand our understanding of the Olmecs outside of their heartland, and new research on the legacy of the Maya offers a wider and more cohesive narrative of Mexico's history. New co-author Javier Urcid has added greater coverage of Oaxaca and of Monte Alban, one of the earliest cities in Mesoamerica and the center of the Zapotec civilization, and a fully revised Epilogue discusses the survival of indigenous populations in Mexico from the Conquest up to the present. This longstanding classic now features full-colour photos of the vibrant art and architecture of ancient Mesoamerica throughout.