The glory that was Mesoamerica -- Uncovering the secrets of the past -- Fragments of history -- Aztec history and mythology -- Unlocking the secrets of Maya society.

Part one: History -- Timeline of Mesoamerica -- 3,000 years of civilization -- The birth of the Olmec -- The Zapotec and the Maya -- Teotihuacán: city of the gods -- The Mixtecs and the Toltecs -- The rise of the Aztecs -- The coming of the Spaniards -- Desert, mountain, lake and jungle -- Many landscapes -- Jungle cities of the Maya -- Sacred mountains in the jungle -- Water: a scarce resource -- City of awe: Teotihuacán -- 'Water mountain': Tenochtitlán -- On the edge: Copán and Jaina Island -- Appeasing the gods -- Many types of blood offering -- Mesoamerican divinities -- One above all others: the supreme god? -- The blood of Mary -- Communion with the divine -- Reaching for the sky -- Spirit jaguars: shamans -- Reading the future -- Death and the afterlife -- Warfare and military life -- The flower wars -- Chain of command: the Aztec army -- Into battle -- Running the Aztec empire -- Tribute and trade -- Campaigns of Moctezuma I -- City-states in constant conflict -- War between Mayapán and Chichén Itzá -- The Maya collapse -- Royal power, law and order -- Structures of power -- The power of appearance -- Coronation spectacle -- Sun king: the glory of King Pacal -- Moctezuma II in his pomp -- Wise governance, strict punishment -- The Maya law code -- Clans and power: Maya social groups -- The many levels of Aztec society -- Past, present and future -- Starting from zero: mathematics -- Three into one: interlocking calendars -- Counting the days -- Major Aztec festivals -- Divining the future -- Reading the stars -- Written records -- Royal scribes and codices.

Part two: Myth -- Creation and the first peoples -- The power in the centre: cosmology -- The making of the earth -- Order from chaos: Maya creation stories -- Both one and two: Aztec creation stories -- The anger of the gods -- The hero twins and seven macaw -- The triumph of the hero twins -- The people of corn -- Earth and sky -- Life under the four suns -- Dawn of the fifth sun -- The celestial weaving girl -- Myths of the night sky -- Many faces of the sun god -- Bringers of rain -- Deluge: the universal flood -- Tales of the gods -- A crowded pantheon -- Lord of the smoking mirror -- The originator of war -- Dark challenger by night -- The plumed serpent -- Quetzalcóatl and the raft of snakes -- The tribal war god -- Hummingbird of the left -- Divine creatures -- Waters, fertility and harvest -- The sacrifice of blood and water -- Ancient lifegivers -- Rain sun and water sun -- The flayed lord -- Mother earth and her flowers -- The gods of maize -- The gift of pulque -- How maize was tamed -- Sex, pregnancy and birth -- After death -- The paradise of the flower goddess -- The Bacabs and the cosmic tree -- The journey to Mictlán -- Beyond the water -- The hero twins and the underworld -- Risen from the underworld -- Return to Xibalba -- Xibalba tamed -- Quetzalcóatl and his twin in Mictlán -- Myths and history -- Toltec wanderings -- The golden reign of Topiltzin -- The divine prince -- How the Toltecs fell -- The origin of the Méxica -- The cactus and the eagle -- The Quiché Maya seek a home -- Visions of triumph and downfall -- An empire lost, an empire won.