Among the most famous of the civilizations produced by the New World was the great Aztec Empire, centered at Tenochtitlan. This culture had captured the imaginations of many throughout the centuries because of its grandeur, power, and quite often, its brutality. The Aztec: The Last Great Civilization of Mesoamerica is a short introduction to Aztec history and culture, encompassing every period from the origin of the Aztec peoples to their eventual conquest by the Spanish in the early 16th century.