‘Conquistadors’ Traces Spanish Steps
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British historian Michael Wood brings his passion and enthusiasm for the past to “Conquistadors,” a four-part PBS documentary starting tonight (8 p.m. KCET, KVCR) and concluding next Wednesday.
Each one-hour program follows the footsteps of ambitious Spaniards who conquered the New World in the 16th century, from the banks of the Amazon to the Rio Grande. In the first hour, Wood relies on old maps and diaries while telling of aggressive explorer Hernando Cortes, who vanquished the Aztecs nearly 500 years ago.
Part 2 reports on Francisco Pizarro, who defeated the mighty Inca empire which stretched from Ecuador to Chile.
Next week’s programs recall an obsessive search for El Dorado and the first crossing of the North American continent.
The resourceful Wood hosted the 1998 PBS program “In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great.”
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