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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. With vivid and energetic prose, Emmy Award–winner and author MacQuarrie (From the Andes to 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. B&w illus., maps. (May 29)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
The Incas were members of the group of Quechuan peoples of Peru, who established an empire from northern Ecuador to central Chile before the Spanish conquest. MacQuarrie reminds his readers that nearly 500 years ago, 168 Spaniards arrived in what is now Peru and collided with an Incan empire of 10 million people. The author, who lived in Peru for five years, chronicles the adventures of Hiram Bingham, who, in 1911, discovered Machu Picchu and believed it was the Incan capital. MacQuarrie also recounts the search by Gene Savoy, the American explorer who found Vicabamba, the true capital. He describes the adventures of other conquistadors and puppet kings, the rebellion of 1535, and other military attempts to conquer the Indians. MacQuarrie, a four-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, researched Spanish and Incan chronicles. The result is a first-rate reference work of ambitious scope that will most likely stand as the definitive account of these people. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent History of the Spanish Conquest of Peru and Fall of the Inca Empire,
By
This review is from: The Last Days of the Incas (Hardcover)
In a nutshell this book is an excellent introduction to the Spanish conquest of Peru and the demise of the Inca empire. The author does an excellent job of making history "come alive" for the reader. Unlike many other works of historical non-fiction, the book intersperses historical facts with glimpses into the personal lives of the historical characters. It delves into the culture of Incas and describes how the Inca empire came into being. It compares and contrasts the relatives strengths and weaknesses of the Spanish and Inca forces in battle for control of the Inca empire, and discusses how tactics and strategies evolved over time. It does not gloss over the horrible atrocities exacted by the Spanish on the Incas during this period of time either, which is something a lot of historical works do not delve into. The book finishes off by describing the later discovery of Machu Picchu and Vilcabamba, the fabled "Lost City of the Incas." I highly recommend this book.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I couldn't put it down,
By Matthew Richards (Montreal) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Last Days of the Incas (Hardcover)
Planning my first trip to Peru I purchased a copy of "The Last Days of the Incas" after reading a review in the newspaper. I wasn't disappointed. Kim MacQuarrie's prose brings what is one of the most exciting stories that has ever occurred in the Americas to life in vivid and startling detail. Once I began reading the book, I literally was unable to put it down. Not only does "The Last Days of the Incas" bring the conquest to life, but it also includes chapters on the modern discoveries of Inca ruins in Peru, and also explains how Machu Picchu (a must see) fits into the history of the Inca Empire. This book does an amazing job of placing you at the heart of the conquest. Francisco Pizarro and his four brothers come completely to life as do a colorful assortment of other Inca and Spanish characters. You'll feel the sharp wind in the Andes whipping round your legs, the buzz of bullets from harquebusiers whizzing by your ears as you experience the valiant and brave efforts of the rebel Inca emperor, Manco Inca, struggle against all odds to hold onto his empire. If you are going on vacation to Peru or South America, or just want to experience an amazing and epic story first hand, then I can't recommend this book enough. Really extraordinary.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Captured by History,
By Dr. Betsy Hesser (Prince Edward Island) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Last Days of the Incas (Hardcover)
I absolutely loved this book. Everyone in my family loved this book. It is a rip-roaring adventure that explains an important piece of South American history in a way that captivates the attention at the same time that it makes that particular period in history understandable. How could a small group of illiterate Spanish explorers change the history of an empire of 10 million people? This book is a real-life example of the ideas proposed in the book "Guns, Germs, and Steel." Although I visited many of the important sites in Peru in which the story takes place a few years ago, I now want to return in order to see those places again from the vantage point of what I learned in "The Last Days of the Incas." This book makes history come alive and the lessons contained therein have relevance in today's world.
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