This collection of correspondence investigates the strategic, political, and logistical challenges faced by Hernando Cortés during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The author, a Spanish conquistador, provides a firsthand account of his interactions with indigenous populations, his military campaigns, and his efforts to justify his actions to the Spanish Crown. These letters serve as a primary historical record, detailing the complex power dynamics and the rapid transformation of the Americas under Spanish influence.

Historians frequently cite these letters as a foundational, albeit biased, primary source for understanding the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Readers often note the dense, formal prose style typical of sixteenth-century administrative writing.