History of the Conquest of Peru : With a Prelimina

When you travel to Peru, even today, the country's landscape and country are dominated by the conflict that occurred between the Incas and the Spaniards in the 16th century. Spanish style buildings are intermixed with those of the entirely different culture of the Incas. This book portrays the battles and conflicts in vivid terms, and although it is a sad story, one of greed and conquest, it is still quite interesting. If you have been to Cuzco you can superimpose the events of the book on that city in your mind and just sit back in awe. For those who find this part of the world interesting I can highly recommend this book. You get a better sense of the Spaniards but that is probably because most of the written history comes from their records. Whatever sophistication the Incas had in their culture and architecture is still a bit of a mystery.

The Inca HUAYNA CAPAC (died in 1525 ad) had two heirs to the throne. ATHAHUALLPA (to whom he left the northern part of the country, with the capital of Quito), who was not from a mother of Inca blood, though she was the Inca's favorite; and HUASCAR, son of his lawful wife and sister, the legitimate heir to the crown. Huascar received the southern part of the country, with the capital Cuzco. After the Inca died, the two brothers precipitated Peru in civil war; Athauallpa won. Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, Francisco Pizzarro captured Atahuallpa; his subjects were utterly disheartened at this sacrilege. Remember the fascinating episode of Atahuallpa sitting on the ground and the Spanish horseman approaching him until the horse was very close to the Inca's face; though Atahuallpa had never seen a horse before he did not flinch. However, some of his retinue were scared and pulled back. The Inca had them killed the same day for showing fear and dishonoring themselves. During his time in captivity the Inca had his brother Huascar killed. Atahuallpa was put to death by the Spaniards even though he filled a room with gold from all over the country as a ransom for himself and his familiy. After being pressured, he embraced the Christian faith right before being put to death; instead of being burnt alive, he was garroted. Atahuallpa's general Chalcucima was burnt on the stake and Quisquis was killed by some of his own men who were tired of fighting against the Spaniards. Manco Inca was then crowned new ruler of the Incas as a puppet of the Spaniards. However, after some time he managed to escape and to live in freedom for a long time in Cajamarca. Juan Pizzarro died wahile storming the citadel of Cuzco. Almagro and Pizzarro began a civil war. Almagro was captured and put to death (garroted in prison).Hernando Pizzarro, upon returning to Spain, was imprisoned for twenty years in a dungeon and released in 1560. He died at the age of 100. Followers of Almagro assassinated Francisco Pizzarro (1541) and started a feud against the Pizzarros. The son of Almagro was captured and behaded as well. Manco Inca was assassinated by a group of Almagristas whom he had sheltered in Cajamarca (they were afterwards all slain by the Incas). A feud erupted between Gonzalo Pizzarro and the viceroy Blasco Nunez. They went to war and the viceroy was captured and killed on the battlefield. Pizzarro proclaimed himself master of Peru.Pedro de la Gasca was sent to Peru in 1545 to straighten things up, on behalf of the emperor Charles V. He was a very good cleric and a good administrator. The offer of surrender and of pardon which he extended to Gonzalo Pizzarro was turned down. War erupted between the royalists and Pizzarro. Carbajal was an old brave and cruel general who fought on the side of the Pizzarros. He was captured and executed; same fate befell Gonzalo (1550). Prescott, who wrote in the 1800s without ever setting foot in South America, tells all these stories in a ve

I read this one while traveling around Peru and the local experts confirmed the accuracy of Prescott's 150-year-old writings about Inca culture. Many of the most important actors in the book were surprisingly old considering the hardships that they endured. For example, Pizarro himself was 60 when he started heading down towards Peru through terrible storms in wooden boats, often getting stranded in mosquito-infested jungles without food for months at a time. He was 65 by the time he actually conquered Peru. One of the Pizarro family's most effective generals in their fights against other Spaniards was 80-84 during the period of these civil wars.This book makes a great gift for anyone traveling to Ecuador or Peru and for anyone over the age of 60.

A wonderful book! It reads like great fiction but the events aren't fiction-- they actually happened! This book kept me captivated, I couldn't put it down! Prescott does a marvelous Job!

The conquest of the mighty Inca empire by a small contingent of Spanish adventurers, and their subsequent civil wars fought for control of the region, is a story so dramatic and improbable that it's hard to believe it actually happened. Prescott's artistic style, meticulous attention to detail, and brilliantly structured narrative bring out all the drama and excitement. Unlike many histories, this work has nothing about it that is tedious or dry--particularly remarkable since Prescott never visited South America and developed his sweeping account exclusively from literary sources. The author's ability to reconstruct the attitudes and motivations of the key characters gives the reader a much deeper understanding of the events. Before reading the book, I knew next to nothing about the Incas or the settlement of the region. Upon finishing it, I felt as though I'd received a thorough (and most enjoyable) schooling.