To view Chapter 1 you will require Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded free from Adobe's web-site.

Coe, Michael D. The Maya, Thames & Hudson, 1993. First issued in 1967, and updated, this is a really good general introduction to the Maya by a professor of Anthropology at Yale, and an expert on pre-Columbian Mexico.

De Landa, Diego, (translation: William Gates) Yucatan Before and After the Conquest, Ediciones Alducin. Written by the infamous friar to defend his atrocious actions in attempting to stamp out Maya culture, this is still one of the few accounts from the time we have.

Freidel, David, Linda Schele, and Joy Parker, Maya Cosmos, Three thousand years of the Shaman's Path. William Morrow 1993. The Maya World told from the perspective of archaeology, astronomy and personal experience in studying it.

Gates, William, An Outline Dictionary of Maya Glyphs, Dover 1978. Detailed study of the hieroglyphs in three Maya codices.

Schele, Linda and David Freidel, A Forest of Kings, The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya, William Morrow, 1990. Story of Maya kingship from the beginning to the conquest by two people who deciphered and reinterpreted Maya glyphs.

Schele, Linda and Mary Ellen Miller, The Blood of Kings, Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art, George Braziller, Kimbell Art Museum, 1986. Beautifully illustrated catalogue. Linda Schele was one of the leaders in interpreting Maya civilization and influenced the study of the Maya profoundly.

Tedlock, Dennis, translator. Popol Vuh, Simon & Schuster, 1985. The Quiche Maya book of creation: one of the world's greatest books in a widely praised translation, with great notes.

Wright, Ronald, Time Among the Maya, Viking 1989. Wright is a wonderful travel writer, and now a novelist. This is his account of his travels through the land of the Maya as he decodes the Maya calendar.