You Dreamed of Empires

Summary

Set in 1519, You Dreamed of Empires imagines the encounter between Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and Aztec ruler Moctezuma in the magnificent city of Tenochtitlan. Rather than presenting the conquest as a straightforward story of European victory, Enrigue focuses on the political manoeuvring, cultural misunderstandings, and competing ambitions surrounding this pivotal meeting. Through shifting perspectives and dark humour, the novel portrays the Spanish as vulnerable outsiders entering a sophisticated civilisation whose inhabitants have their own political struggles and visions of the future. Its dreamlike atmosphere unsettles familiar historical narratives, exposing the uncertainty and violence beneath the language of conquest. Enrigue reimagines a defining moment in Mexican history while questioning how empires construct stories about power, civilisation, and inevitable victory.