Do You like book The Last Days Of The Incas (2007)?
As a Peruvian I feel really sorry for what happened at that time. It looks that I am a kind of witness when reading this book...Thank you Mr. MacQuarrie. I can picture each scene. Also, the books makes me reflect of how the Inca empire was affected deeply by this gang, I believe it was because the empire was divided in many ways for power. Spaniards were lucky finding a place like this. Racism, killing, stealing, lying were their heritage left, among others. Three centuries later, it is interesting to see how the ambition of fame came with the explorer Gene Savoy who betrayed Vincent Lee's recent discovering of Vilcabamba ruins, an architect who shared with him all what he found in the lost Inca City. Again, power, ambition, bitterness now related to the history of the Inca Empire ::: It would be great if the book is translated in Spanish so, many of my countrymen would be able to learn more about our culture, our ancestors.
—Coralia
The epilogue in The Last Days of the Incas is well written, interesting and, honestly, everything I wanted the rest of the book to be. Unfortunately the bulk of The Last Days of the Incas is very poorly written. Non-fiction writing can be difficult, particularly when taking on a subject, like the Incas, with little material available. However every step of the way, MacQuarrie goes off track. Chapters start with quotes, most of them by Machiavelli, but also from various both pre- and post- conquest sources that seem to be randomly selected. MacQuarrie regularly reminds us that the primary sources are very biased, but seems to accept them as fact fairly often, somehow forgetting they’re biased, and not questioning details presented in them, instead quoting at length. I often found myself thinking perhaps I would have done better to just read the translated material myself. Large portions of the work seem to repeat, and the author is forever reminding us who people are with long recaps, and long, irrelevant, back stories. At irregular intervals, MacQuarrie inserts historic fiction into this story, which is both distracting, and incredibly unnecessary. We have spotty one-sided accounts, they certainly don’t tell us the way someone was thinking, or how the sun glinted off this or that. Towards the end, when dealing with contemporary feuds between archeologists, I got the distinct impression that MacQuarrie had a horse in the race. As noted above, the epilogue somehow is wonderfully written, which makes me wonder if it is all the same author. It’s popular history, so I know I can’t expect too much, but I was surprised at all the positive comments.
—Chris
Excellent historical book, carefully researched, very readable style. This is no dry and dusty history book, but a fascinating account of the clash between two civilizations, the Spanish and the Incas. I read this because I traveled to Peru earlier this year, and after visiting Cuzco, Ollantaytambo and Macchu Pichu, I was interested in reading more about the Inca civilization. I knew very little about the Incas and had thought it was an older civilization like the Mayan civilization. I was surprised to learn that the Inca empire only lasted about 90 years and was not an ancient civilization. There are no ancient artifacts because the empire was so recent (relatively speaking). The amazing thing about the Incas was that they were planners and organizers. Before building a site, they carefully planned it, even making clay models first. Though they had no written language, they had a well organized system of communication using runners and knotted ropes, which was necessary for communication in a vast empire. The Incas were also amazing builders who procured huge slabs of granite and fit them together almost perfectly without the use of mortar. They worshiped the sun, and they were also astronomers who made buildings and rooms for precise observation of the sun. There is much to admire about the Inca rulers. The Incas were not noted for their cruelty as were the Mayas and the Aztecs. However, when the Spanish came and committed many atrocities against them, they responded in kind and were very cruel to the Spanish soldiers that they took prisoner. By and large the Spanish conquistadors in Peru were illiterate, uncouth and greedy men. Many were men of courage on the battlefield, and though few in numbers they conquered a huge territory and prevailed over a very great number of Inca warriors due to their superior weapons and their horses. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Peruvian archaeology, the Incas or travel in Peru.
—Judi
