9. The Aztecs - A Clash of Worlds (Part 1 of 2)

Honestly, this is what the history Channel SHOULD have been.

The way you spent 16 min going from dinosaurs to horses and their extinction, just so you could point out the irony that the Aztecs would meet their downfall by Europeans coming over on horses was BRILLIANT.

As a Mexican- American historian, the end of this documentary-and the way you described the Ameridan people as ignorant to the approaching treat of European invasion, just as the dinosaurs were of the asteroid that destroyed their way of life, really hit me hard. Thank you for your creativity, Paul!

I really appreciate how this documentary ACTUALLY spends time retracing the history of the Aztecs and doesn’t just skim through it and go directly to the arrival of the Spanish like every other one does, even though this a series about the fall of empires! Your work is very impressive! I really enjoyed it!

The documentary was incredible, here in Mexico it is being a success with our followers. We appreciate that you have allowed us to be part of this project. Best regards.

I'm glad you set aside a whole episode detailing the history of Aztecs before the arrival of Europeans. Too often the only part of their history that is told is their conquest. They deserve to be seen on their own terms.

I tried watching History and Discovery Channel documentaries about the Aztecs, but they were literally unwatchable with the overly dramatic music and jump cuts like it was a bad action movie with very little substance. Thank you for respecting your audience enough let the history speak for itself! What a fascinating story you tell here.

You produce some of the best history media content, not only on YouTube, but anywhere at all. The attention to facts, the writing and narration, the production quality are all magnificent. We're very fortunate to be able to be watch this, and even for free

As a mexican... i´ve learned more interesting things in this episode than all of my history classes. thank you!

Other Historians: to tell this story properly we go back a little and start from the beginning. Paul Cooper: D I N O S A U R S

I love the fact that he enunciates everything really well. It shows great respect to every culture he works on. Greetings from México.

Paleontologist here. Great video, but I should probably clear some things up: 1) Velociraptors were only found in Mongolia, though other dromeosaurs (or “raptors”) did live in the region of southern Mexico. 2) Quetzalcoatlus’s limb proportions show it was well-adapted to terrestrial locomotion, indicating it probably spent a substantial amount of time on the ground. It may have even hunted on the ground similar to modern marabou storks. That being said, it was probably still perfectly capable of flying when it wanted to. 3) North and South America only joined together about 3 million years ago. For much of its history, South America was an island continent.

The duality of man Nezahualcoyotl building libraries while Izcoatl burns books

As a black American, ancient cultures and civilizations are so fascinating to me for obvious reasons. Learning about the advancements and highlights of the Aztecs, Maya, Inca, Olmecs, Toltecs, Tonga and other civilizations of the Americas makes me really happy because it shows how Eurocentric history has been for centuries that entire civilizations of brown and black ppl throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas were nearly forgotten. But now thanks to YT channels like this and others, we can all learn about history from all over the earth including Europe. All civilizations have contributed to the advancement of human civilization and way of life and all civilizations should be studied.

Excellent work. As a Mexican I can tell you that this documentary on the Aztec empire is the best I've ever watched. Congrats!!!

Finally a narrator that actually knows what he's talking about instead of simply reading a script! 👏👏

I told my wife "Sorry, babe. I got plans tonight."

Probably the best set history documentaries I've ever watched, period.

When you brought back the quetzalcoatlus at the end to tie in not only the dinosaurs, but the Aztec language, I was absolutely floored. Great content

Paul and team - Thank you again for another masterful content. I’m going through your videos rather slowly and in random order, but every video elevates my senses and transports me to these amazing ancient & medieval lands / cultures. This is my second gift to your channel because I feel this incomparable depiction of world history needs continuous encouragement of all kinds. Thank you again - I never thought that an Aztec story could be so captivating. Brilliant 👏🏼