I read this book when I was in Peru along with WH Prescott's 'Conquest of Peru'. Prescott's book gives a great history of the Inca empire and yet it is amazing to think that at the time of his writing Machu Pichu had yet to be discovered by Bingham. This he did in 1911 and he explains how he came about this fantastic discovery in great detail. He covers the trial and tribulations of finding this great city in a rich and lively fashion and the descriptive detail of Machu Pichu is wonderfully written. The photographs in the book add a historical veneer to the whole context of the book, which in the end tells us how a scholar ultimately discovered one of the greatest historical sites built by man after laying undiscovered for over three hundred years. A really interesting read, sometimes laboured in places but overall an excellent book.