When Columbus first encountered the Maya, little did he realise that he had found a civilization as ancient and rich in traditions as the European he had left behind. The Spanish conquest of the Maya lands dragged on for almost two centuries with an area the size of Wales remaining under Mayan control until 1929. A small faction even took on the British Empire in Belize. Paradoxically, while the Spaniards were destroying the old civilization, in some ways they helped to preserve it. Richard Crosfield sets out on a journey through the five southern states of Mexico, northern Guatemala and Belize, talking to archaeologists, Maya, missionaries and descendants of Spanish settlers in the region. He travels through history, uncovering how this sophisticated Pre-Columbian civilization came to terms with their Spanish would-be conquerors, and how the delicate balance between Maya and Castilán was betrayed when Mexico became independent. He tells the stories of the early encounters and the Conquest through the eyes of the Maya as well as Spanish conquistadors and priests, while the past meets the present in his own journey.