The untold story of the last stronghold of the Incas. In 1572 the Spanish sacked Vilcabamba, the last Inca stronghold, and the city was rapidly overtaken by the jungle, receding for hundreds of years into legend and myth. This is the story of how Vilcabamba was founded and how the Incas held out against the Spanish for over 30 years in a savage guerrilla war. Hundreds of years later, at the turn of this century an American explorer, Hiram Bingham, stumbled on the ruins of Machu Pichu and announced to the world that he had found Vilcabamba, the lost city of the Incas. For fifty years the academic world agreed with him until in 1967 another American explorer discovered the real Vilcabamba. This is the biography of a city - through history, myth, legend, literature, exploration and archaeology.
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Review
"...a first-rate...work of ambitious scope that will most likely
stand as the definitive account of these people." -- Booklist, May 18, 2007
"A welcome addition to the literature . . . Lively and dramatic." -- The Washington Post, June 24, 2007
"A wonderful history of the Spanish conquest of the Incan empire...a great read about fascinating human events." -- Antiwar.com, August 17, 2007
"Fascinating and enthralling...the direct narrative brings alive people who existed 500 years ago. Truly a work worth Inca gold." -- The History Magazine, Sept 1, 2007
"MacQuarrie has clearly done his homework." -- The San Francisco Chronicle, July 8, 2007
"Meticulous research and compelling storytelling" -- National Geographic Traveler, August 1, 2007
"The Last Days of the Incas reads like a novel...a delightful, eminently readable account."
-- The St Petersburg Times, Oct 10, 2007
"Thoroughly and entertainingly recounted...MacQuarrie excels" -- Forbes Magazine, June 18, 2007
"Thrillingly informative...narrative gold"
stand as the definitive account of these people." -- Booklist, May 18, 2007
"A welcome addition to the literature . . . Lively and dramatic." -- The Washington Post, June 24, 2007
"A wonderful history of the Spanish conquest of the Incan empire...a great read about fascinating human events." -- Antiwar.com, August 17, 2007
"Fascinating and enthralling...the direct narrative brings alive people who existed 500 years ago. Truly a work worth Inca gold." -- The History Magazine, Sept 1, 2007
"MacQuarrie has clearly done his homework." -- The San Francisco Chronicle, July 8, 2007
"Meticulous research and compelling storytelling" -- National Geographic Traveler, August 1, 2007
"The Last Days of the Incas reads like a novel...a delightful, eminently readable account."
-- The St Petersburg Times, Oct 10, 2007
"Thoroughly and entertainingly recounted...MacQuarrie excels" -- Forbes Magazine, June 18, 2007
"Thrillingly informative...narrative gold"
Half a millennium ago, a small group of Spaniards tricked, manipulated, and
murdered their way to total domination over the Peruvian Incas. In this
thrillingly informative work, MacQuarrie relates how, with the help of
metal weapons, artillery, disease, and horses ("the mobile tanks of the
conquest"), the Spanish subdued a native populace despite being outnumbered
nearly 10,000 to 1. In addition to writing rousing and clear-eyed battle
accounts and describing the Incas' early form of guerrilla warfare,
MacQuarrie also manages to spin the oft-told story of the discovery of
Machu Picchu into narrative gold. -- Entertainment Weekly, June 1, 2007
"Vivid...engergetic...fascinating...riveting"
With vivid and energetic prose, Emmy Award-winner and author MacQuarrie
(Where the Andes Meet the Amazon) re-creates the 16th-century struggle for
what would become modern-day Peru. The Incas ruled a 2,500-mile-long
empire, but Spanish explorers, keen to enrich the crown and spread the
Catholic Church, eventually destroyed Inca society. MacQuarrie, who writes
with just the right amount of drama ("After the interpreter finished
delivering the speech, silence once again gripped the square"), is to be
commended for giving a balanced account of those events. This long and
stylish book doesn't end with the final 1572 collapse of the Incas.
Fast-forwarding to the 20th century, MacQuarrie tells the surprisingly
fascinating story of scholars' evolving interpretations of Inca remains. In
1911, a young Yale professor of Latin American history named Hiram Bingham
identified Machu Picchu as the nerve center of the empire. Few questioned
Bingham's theory until after his death in 1956; in the 1960s Gene Savoy
discovered the real Inca center of civilization, Vilcabamba. Although
MacQuarrie dedicates just a few chapters to modern research, the
archeologists who made the key discoveries emerge as well-developed
characters, and the tale of digging up the empire is as riveting as the
more familiar history of Spanish conquest. -- Publisher's Weekly (STARRED REVIEW), May 15, 2007
Book Description
The haunting story of the destruction of a magnificent civilisation
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
THE GAUNT, THIRTY FIVE-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN EXPLORER, Hiram Bingham, clambered up the steep slope of the cloud forest, on the eastern flank of the Andes, then paused beside his peasant guide before taking off his wide-brimmed fedora and wiping the sweat from his brow. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE GAUNT, THIRTY FIVE-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN EXPLORER, Hiram Bingham, clambered up the steep slope of the cloud forest, on the eastern flank of the Andes, then paused beside his peasant guide before taking off his wide-brimmed fedora and wiping the sweat from his brow. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By S. Walshe
Format:Hardcover
Before I read this book, my knowledge of the Inca Empire was limited to a vague notion that they once had a great civilization that was quickly destroyed by a small bunch of Spaniards. I had no idea of the blood curdling drama that awaited me. Kim MacQuarrie's book is a riveting, thrill a minute tale written with such a skillful combination of elegant restraint and high stakes immediacy that I couldn't wait to get to the next chapter and on some occasions, (like when Manco Inca first mobilized the Incas into rebellion to name but one example), I had to remind myself to exhale. Right up to the end, I was willing the Incas to prevail, all the while knowing that their days were numbered. The fact that all the issues it so painstakingly and beautifully brings to the surface are scarily relevant to today's world does the book no disservice either. Read it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Sarah
Format:Paperback
An incredibly well written piece of literature. Easy to read, historically informative and an amazing insight into the lives of the Spanish Conquistadors and the Incas, I felt I was there! (Reading this book had the same effect on me as watching 'Braveheart' - you always wana support the underdogs) Unbelievably powerful,stirring and evocative. The story contained inside this books cover has been researched mind bogglingly well, I can only imagine the painstaking hours involved in the creation of perfection that is this book. Buy it now! It's exciting, inspirational and awesome!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Fran
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
There are a LOT of Inca ruins in Peru and I heard more than one person comment "They're all more or less the same" but when you read this book each building really comes to life. Imagining the Incas defending Sacsaywaman against the Spanish, or the walls of Qoricancha lined with gold makes the whole place so much more interesting and exciting! I definitely recommend this book to anyone even vaguely interested in the Incas and definitely anyone planning to visit the sacred valley in Peru. But finish it before you go, I only got 2/3 of the way through and hence missed out on visiting several of the ruined cities that I'm now desperate to go back for!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book
We are going to Perú in July and this is becoming the perfect warm up for our trip. Sound historically and very engaging.
Published 2 months ago by Doc
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Last Day of the Incas? Morre like the entire history of the Incas
Awesome read on the entire histiry of the Inca Empire. The very defintion of a page turner. Read in 2 nights :)
Published 2 months ago by Harry Matadeen
5.0 out of 5 stars
I didnt want to put it down!
I studied History for my degree so I have a natural interest in the subject. I generally prefer my books to be informative and most importantly, accurate. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Michael Vargas
4.0 out of 5 stars
Concise but contains quite a bit of repitiion
I really enjoyed reading this book, being my first inca history book. The author is really concise in her writing and appears to know a lot. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mel
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
This is one of the most informative ancient history books I've ever read. It reads like a novel and is so discriptive that it feels as though you are there, witnessing the... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Frenchy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping insight
This is a combination of a novel and a scientific history textbook. Inevitably with this type of book there is a lot of interpretation that has to be taken with a pinch of salt but... Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2011 by Soranus
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enlightening
I bought this book after I visited Peru & on reflection, I should have read it beforehand.
This is an incredibly insightful documentation of the discovery & subsequent... Read more
This is an incredibly insightful documentation of the discovery & subsequent... Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2010 by J. Pumphrey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vivid rendering of Inca fortunes and misfortunes
MacQuarrie conjurs up a vivid history of the Inca Empire and its conquest by the Spaniards. Rather like Bible stories, he has used his imagination to paint a vibrant picture of the... Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2010 by Geoff Buck
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the greatest stories ever told
EXTRAORDINARY, GRIPPING, COMPELLING, HARROWING, COMPREHENSIVE, IMPECCABLE, UNPUTDOWNABLE,... I AM AT A LOSS FOR WORDS TO EXPRESS MY ADMIRATION. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2009 by Michel Boucaud
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
This took me a while to read as I'm not the fastest. I never lost interest. An exceptional work written in a way that encourages you to keep turning the pages. A great story. Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2009 by Jack Russell
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