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Peru BooksThere's more to the literature on Peru and the Incas than travel guides and we've picked out some of the best here. From modern works to the classic study by Hiram Bingham, the modern day 'discoverer' of Machu Picchu, these are some of the best ways to get an insight into the culture and history that is Peru.
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White Rock: an Exploration of the Inca Heartland |
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Top Pick |
In his travels, Thomson visited many remote lost cities among the interconnecting
paths the Incas laid across the Andes, talked to archaeologists and explorers working in
the area, and investigated the remains of the remarkable Inca civilization. The result of
his discoveries and research is The White Rock, an engaging history of the Inca people and
their heartland, which vividly resurrects the Inca culture and gives us the true flavor of
their strange and sometimes hostile world. From Publisher's Weekly: So entertaining and appealing is Thomson's story of his exploration of the Inca empire that readers will wish they could take off and follow in his footsteps. In his early 20s, he launched a successful expedition to find the lost Inca city of Llactapata. Believing that "what really was important was understanding what the ruin was about," Thomson began a decades-long study of Inca history and culture. The marriage of his intellectual and physical exploration is at the center of this compelling book. Thomson is a terrific storyteller, his skills apparent in both his recreation of the violent destruction of the Incas by the Spanish and his description of the ruins he discovers, the people he meets along the way, and the hardships and pleasures of traveling the abandoned Inca highways. |
Top Pick
(Paperback) |
Trail of Feathers: In Search of the Birdmen of PeruThe author proves his gift for the surreal in this book, a breathless new adventure full of strange encounters and wonderful visions. His imagination captured by the account of a sixteenth-century Spanish monk who reported that the Incas "flew like birds" over the jungle and by tales of flying in Peruvian folklore, the author sets out to discover whether the ancients really were airborne -- or experienced flying by other means. Gathering treasures, curiosities, and dubious companions along the way, the author follows his trail from Machu Picchu to the coastal desert and the baffling puzzle of the Nazca Lines. Tahir Shah's flair for the unusual reveals Peru as we've never seen it. With his trademark humor, abundant curiosity, and oddball assortment of companions from scholars to smugglers, from conmen to madmen, and from shepherds to shamans, he offers a journey that is no less illuminating than it is hilarious -- and true. |
Top Pick
(Hardcover) |
| From Barnes & Noble: A seasoned traveler
and would-be adventurer, Tahir Shah presents a somewhat confusing, quietly funny,
respectfully honest glimpse into the Incan mythic landscape in his travelogue Trail of
Feathers. It's a wild ride as he stumbles from mountaintop to bone yard in search of
evidence that the Inca mastered the art and science of flight before the arrival of the
Spanish conquistadores. |
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(Paperback) |
Lost City of the Incas by Hiram BinghamA special illustrated edition of Hiram Bingham's classic work captures all the magnificence and mystery of the amazing sites he uncovered. Early in the 20th century, Bingham ventured into the wild and then unknown country of the Eastern Peruvian Andes--and in 1911 came upon the fabulous Inca city that made him famous: Machu Picchu. Available in both Hardcover and Paperback. |
(Hardcover) |
The Last of the IncasAn authoritative account of the Inca empire: its rulers, and their queens, its unique social structure, its cultural achievements, and of its downfall. The authors bring alive a nation whose grandeur is now vanished except in relics like the famed mountaintop ruins of Cuzco. With comparisons to modern politics, economics and human behavior, they illuminate the story of the Incas as brightly as the gold coveted by their Spanish conquerors. That story reaches its dramatic peak with the final conflict between the emperor Athahualpa and Pizarro--a conflict between two men but also a conflict between two versions of civilization. |
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Inca Land: Explorations in the Highlands of PeruArchaeology was still a young discipline in the early 1900s and most of the public interest it generated centered on finds in the Middle East. No one had ever found the Inca strongholds said to lie in the mountains of Peru. In 1911 Hiram Bingham, a Yale University scholar, set off for Peru and found Machu Picchu not long after his arrival. At first, the discovery of a lost city high in the mountains was not as important to him as scaling Mount Coropua, Peru's highest peak, the tale of which is included in this book. It would take several years and a grant from the National Geographic Society to finance his expedition and realize the true significance of Machu Picchu, one of the world's most astonishing archaeological sites. Written in 1922, Inca Land wonderfully evokes a lost world, not only the world of the Inca but also a world of freewheeling exploration, where and entrepreneurial spirit like Bingham's could take a young man on marvelous adventures. This book tells the many tales of Bingham's adventures, one of which just happened to be discovering a lost city. |
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History of the Conquest of PeruAn uncontested classic in the literature of Latin American history, and a companion to Prescott's masterly study of Mexico. Continuing the chronicle of Spain's conquest of the New World, it presents a commanding vision of Pizarro's tumultuous overthrow of the Inca Empire. Filled with drama, every page captures the cruelty and pride of the conquistadors. |
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The Ancient Kingdoms of PeruAs recently as 1987, robbers discovered by far the most spectacular vestiges of the
Moche people, who ruled much of Peru for the first six centuries of the Christian era.
This find - a royal burial chamber shoulder-deep in gold and silver ornaments and carvings
studded with jewels - has provided many powerful insights into their way of life as Nigel
Davies shows. Patterns representing a condor, a killer whale and even an 80-metre monkey,
visible only from the air, are etched into a bare expanse of desert at Nazca. Davies
analyses and assesses the latest scholarly theories surrounding one of the world's great
enigmas. He then turns to the key power centres of the 'middle period' in Huari and
Tiahuanaco, the great coastal civilization of Chimor (the first for which we have written
accounts), and its eventual defeat by the Incas in around 1470. Alongside the often biased
conquistador chronicles, archaeology can now illuminate the Inca imperial cult, their
methods of agriculture, road-building, town-planning and settlement. |
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A Couple More... |
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Children's Books on the Incas |
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Machu Picchu: The Story of the Amazing Inkas
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Peru - The Land
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| Describes the history of the Inca civilization and the construction of the
city of Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains. From the School Library Journal: Gr 4-7-In relating how and why this commanding settlement was built, Mann recounts the history of the Inka people and smoothly incorporates Inka legend with information on the culture's social and political organization, religious beliefs, and engineering accomplishments. |
This colorful, newly revised edition presents updated information about different aspects of life in Peru. Packed with dozens of full-color photographs, maps, and informative sidebars, this resource offers a fascinating introduction to one of the world's most beautiful and unique places. A glossary and index are also included. Part of the "The Lands, Peoples, and Cultures" series. |
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