Carassco, David, and Scott Sessions. Daily Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun and Earth. 2008. An overview of Aztec culture designed for general readers.

Clendinnen, Inga. Aztecs: An Interpretation. 1992. Pays particular attention to the role that rituals and human sacrifice played in Aztec culture.

Coe, Michael D. The Maya. 2011. A new edition of a classic survey that incorporates the most recent scholarship.

Coe, Michael D. Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. 2013. A rich examination of Mesoamerican peoples with the exception of the Maya.

Conrad, G. W , and A. A. Demarest. Religion and Empire: The Dynamics of Aztec and Inca Expansionism. 1993. Compares the two largest American empires.

Freidel, David. A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. 1990. A splendidly illustrated work providing expert treatment of the Maya world.

Hassig, Ross. Mexico and the Spanish Conquest. 2006. A study of indigenous participation in the conquest by a leading historical anthropologist.

Kehoe, Alice Beck. America Before the European Invasion. 2002. An excellent survey of North America before the coming of the Europeans, by an eminent anthropologist.

León-Portilla, Miguel. The Aztec Image of Self and Society: An Introduction to Nahua Culture. 1992. A rich appreciation of Aztec religious ritual and symbolism.

Mann, Charles C. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. 2006. A thoroughly researched overview of all the newest scholarship, written for a general audience.

Mumford, Jeremy Ravi. Vertical Empire: The General Resettlement of Indians in the Colonial Andes. 2012. A study of Andean mountain life between Inca and Spanish rule.

Ramirez, Susan. To Feed and Be Fed: The Cosmological Bases of Authority and Identity in the Andes. 2008. Examines the relationships between ancestors, the spiritual world, and the physical world that shaped Andean societies.

Restall, Matthew, and Amara Solari. 2012 and the End of the World: The Western Roots of the Maya Apocalypse. 2011. Reflects on popular interpretations of the Maya calendar and cosmology.