This fascinating history explores the cultural roots of our civilization's obsession with the end of the world. Busting the myth of the ancient Maya prediction that time would end in 2012, Matthew Restall and Amara Solari build on their previous book, 2012 and the End of the World, to use the Maya case to connect such seemingly disparate historical events as medieval European millenarianism, Moctezuma's welcome to Cortés, Franciscan missionizing in Mexico, prophetic traditions in Yucatan, and the growing belief today in conspiracies and apocalypses. In demystifying the 2012 phenomenon, the authors draw on their decades of scholarship to provide an accessible and engaging explanation of what Mayas and Aztecs really believed, how Judeo-Christian apocalypticism became part of the Indigenous Mesoamerican and modern American worlds, and why millions continue to anticipate an imminent Doomsday.

Matthew Restall and Amara Solari are specialists in Maya culture and in colonial Mexican history and art history. Both teach at the Pennsylvania State University, where Restall is a Sparks Professor in history and anthropology, and Solari is professor of art history and anthropology. His books include Maya Conquistador, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest, and When Montezuma Met Cortés. Her books include Maya Ideologies of the Sacred and Idolizing Mary. They recently coauthored The Maya:AVery Short Introduction.

List of Figures

Introduction: You Really Can Survive

1 The History of the End of the World: The Maya Prediction

2 They Deserve Better: The Maya Evidence

3 God Is Angry: The Millenarian Mother Lode

4 The Moctezuma Factor: The End of the World Comes to Mexico

5 Apocalypto: The Millennium Comes to the Maya

6 We Are Always Almost There: Why People Believe

Sources and Suggestions for Further Reading

Index

About the Authors