Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #461973 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

Review
'A welcome addition to the literature . . . Lively and dramtic' WASHINGTON POST 'Fascinating and enthralling . . . Truly a work worth Inca gold' HISTORY magazine 'The Last Days of the Incas surprises, delivers history, and reads like a great yarn. I've read yards of books on the Incas but this one took me out of the classroom and into that long-lost world.' Keith Bellows, Editor in Chief, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER

Entertainment Weekly, June 1, 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.

Forbes Magazine, June 18, 2007
"Thoroughly and entertainingly recounted...MacQuarrie excels"

Customer Reviews

A Phenomenal Read
If you want to read about the conquest of the Incas, one of the two biggest epic stories in the Americas (the other being Cortes' conquest of the Aztecs, then you really only have two choices: John Hemming's The Conquest of the Incas, and Kim MacQuarrie's The Last Days of the Incas. Hemming's book was published in 1970, thus recent discoveries in Peru during the last four decades are missing--and a lot has happened. It is a very detailed book with lots of footnotes and research, however, it was written by an academic and is average in writing quality. There is thus no attempt in Hemming's book to bring the characters to life, or even to tell their full stories. MacQuarrie's book, on the other hand, was published in 2007 and thus is very up-to-date. You'll learn about recent and important discoveries in 1999 and 2001, how Machu Picchu figured into the conquest and was discovered, and so on. But what really sets it apart from any other book on Inca history is the writing quality. The Last Days of the Incas is really a phenomenal read, the best that I've come across, period. Not since William Prescott's The Conquest of Peru (published in 1847 and a big best seller in its time, but now very outdated) has anyone achieved what MacQuarrie has achieved, bringing the conquest of the Incas back to life. The Last Days of the Incas is not only well researched and up-to-date, but the book is an amazing page-turner. Once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down. The author really succeeds in recreating Pizarro and his conquistadors and the various Inca emperors as full, three-dimensional characters. In sum, if you want to transport yourself in a time machine back to the 16th century in Peru and feel what it was like to be a participant in the sprawling epic that was the conquest of the Inca civilization, there's only one book to get: The Last Days of the Incas. Its a real tour de force.

I couldn't put it down...
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.

A rollercoaster Read
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.