In your review of the Moctezuma show at the British Museum, you complain that it “tends to play down the more oppressive aspects of the Mexica (that is, Aztec) rule: their constant wars in search of tribute and of captives for sacrifice to bloodthirsty gods” (“Getting Close to a Bloody God,” September 26, 2009). Among the exhibits you describe in some detail, you put some emphasis on the armor and rapier of Pedro de Alvarado, “the bloodiest of the conquistadors,” which you contrast with “the Mexica’s previously lethal broadsword studded with obsidian blades.” Actually, the broadsword, very like an ordinary club, was designed to stun rather than to kill. The shallow blades were there merely for the effect, as well, for spurting blood always looks glorious on the battlefield. To wit, the weapon was but an instrument of ceremonial sacrifice that followed the battle at a leisurely pace. And this misreading of yours only illustrates your just complaint, for the show should have been more explicit about the broadsword’s expressly non-lethal nature.