Customer Reviews:
Review of Moon, Sun and Witches.......2006-07-29
Irene Silverblatt examines the effects of the Spanish conquest on women's place in Peruvian society. In a straightforward and uncomplicated way, Silverblatt lays out the material using a basic `before and after' approach. She spends the first half describing pre-conquest Andean life, concentrating on women and their roles in society. Then she shows how life changed for the Andeans after the arrival of the Spanish. Again, she focuses on how those changes affected women, arguing that not only were women affected by the Spanish conquest but that they suffered far greater loss of position than their male counterparts.
An excellent, intricate and fascinating book.......2001-06-26
I first read this book in 1990, when I was a college student. It galvanized my interest in pan-American indigenous-white relations. Now that I am a university professor myself, I teach this book regularly. It's fascinating to most undergraduates -- often mentioned as one of their favorite books of the semester -- without losing any of the intricacy and delicacy of argument necessary to treating the subject of cultural contact and conflict in the Americas. I highly recommend it for any reader; I've given it to people travelling to Peru on vacation and it has greatly deepened their understanding of the land they are visiting and history of their own presence in the Sacred Valley. A great read, highly informative, elegantly written and deeply researched.
Blaa Blaa Blaa Blatt Blatt Blatt.......1999-11-30
This book is a extreamly verbous book that discusses the political and economic rights of andean women through out history.
Average customer rating:
- The Incas
- Excellent source for all the information you need on the Incas
- The most complete source about the Incas
- Thorough
- Excellent Synthesis
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The Incas (Peoples of America)
Terence N. D'Altroy
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishers
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The Machu Picchu Guidebook: A Self-Guided Tour
ASIN: 0631176772 |
Book Description
The great empire of the Incas at its height encompassed an area of western South America comparable in size to the Roman Empire in Europe. This book describes and explains its extraordinary progress from a small Andean society in southern Peru to its rapid demise little more than a century later at the hands of the Spanish conquerors.
The Incas provides the first book to fully synthesize history and archeology in an exploration of the entire empire from Chile to Ecuador. Drawing from commentaries and research by hundreds of chroniclers, explorers, and scholars, the author explains how the Incas drew from millennia of cultural developments to mould a diverse land into a dynamic, powerful, and yet fragile polity. From this integrated perspective, The Incas profoundly rethinks the nature of imperial formation, ideology, and social, economic, and political relations in Inca society.
Illustrated with numerous maps and photographs, this scholarly yet accessible book should become the new standard account of the most impressive of the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas.
Customer Reviews:
The Incas.......2007-05-13
I have a great interest in the Inca tribes and wished to find out more about them. It was very good study material for my studies.
Excellent source for all the information you need on the Incas.......2006-12-16
I'm preparing to travel to Peru in a month so i bought this book to get myself aquainted with the Incas and the book didnt dissapoint me.The authors do a very good job in presenting the Incas in a very interesting manner using terms that were easy to follow and understand.The part of the book that deals with their cult of the dead was very interesting and informative.Also it is very well explained how the Incas governed themselves and how do they managed to form a very impressive empire despite the fact that it was formed by a lot of different tribes and peoples from the Andean Plateau.This book is a must for anyone who wants to understand and, very important,to enjoy reading about such an amazing culture.
The most complete source about the Incas.......2006-08-02
This book provides all the information needed to understand many aspects of the Inca empire. Comparing recent archaeological findings with Spanish cronicles and with many Inca narratives about their lifestyle, Terence D'altroy offers a scientific point of view about this magnificent realm. The Incas constitute a major guide that must be readed before traveling to Peru.
Thorough .......2004-08-25
Professor D'Altroy, a UCLA graduate in 1981, is director of the Columbia Center for Archaeology and professor of anthropology at Columbia University. His specialty is the Inca, and this volume is a cumulative description of current research on that topic.
The Incas is a thorough description of the land and people of the region, including groups and empires that preceded the Inca. Written sources for the information are analyzed for their contemporaneity, reliability, and bias, while archaeological data are used to clarify these accounts where possible. The author discusses not only the rise and fall of the empire but the social order and political and religious ideology as well.
The notes to the chapters are interesting in themselves, as they provide additional information that addresses questions that seem to arise from natural curiosity about the details of events. My favorites had to do with the claimed ages of witnesses to events and those claimed for various emperors. The bibliography is truly amazing and contains entries of almost every copyright date, many annotated, recently printed volumes of early explorers' accounts. A casual perusal of the entries suggests that most of these date to 1558 and later. Some of the secondary entries and most of the primary sources are in Spanish, although there are more than enough in English to answer to the needs of the interested. Periodicals are a significant portion of the bibliography, however, and some of these may be difficult to find unless one has access to a large university library. Most of the modern book entries date to the late 1970's, although some of historical interest or significance date to the earlier years of the 20th Century.
The book is easily accessible to the average reader with an interest in Native Americans, the Incas, anthropology, archaeology, political history, social history, Spain in the New World, and cultures in conflict.
Excellent Synthesis.......2003-05-02
This book is intended as a synthesis of information on the Inca state. Written both as an introductory book for the broad reading public and as a benchmark for scholars, this book distills historical, archaeologic, and ethnographic information into a single nicely organized and written volume. D'Altroy, an archaeologist who has worked extensively in the Andes, covers the prehistory and history of the Inca state, its social and political organization, its religous ideology, and its material culture. The judicious use of historic sources, largely post-Spanish conquest writings, combined with archaeologically derived information is excellent. The writing is free of academic jargon and D'Altroy provides a comparative perspective by sparing but insightful comparisons with other pre-modern empires. It is difficult to write a book that will be interesting to general readers and useful to scholars but D'Altroy has done an excellent job of serving two masters. I've read other books on the Incas and this is beyond question the best single volume on this topic.
Customer Reviews:
Review by Greg Hobbs of The Incas.......2006-07-06
Review of Gordon F. McEwan, The Incas, New Perspectives (ABC-CLIO, Inc, Santa Barbara 2006).
By Justice Greg Hobbs, Colorado Supreme Court, Denver.
Here's a book about the Incas written by a scholar who has spent twenty-six years working with Peruvian archeologists in the Cusco Valley to unearth the secrets of Pikillacta and Chokepukio.
The archeology of these two sites reveals a two-thousand year history of the Andean people's adaptation to a stunning and often harsh environment.
The Incas built their civilization on the cultural foundations of the Wari, Tiwanaku, and Pukara civilizations of the Lake Titcaca region, dating back as early as 200 B.C.
As McEwan documented in a 2002 National Geographic article, the Wari (500-1100 A.D.) operated Pikillacta as a ceremonial and administrative center. (Virginia Morell, "Empires Across The Andes," National Geographic at 123 (June 2002)).
At Pikillacta, you can see portions of the aqueduct the Wari built to convey water a great distance from the surrounding mountains. You can also see beehive-looking structures in which the Wari housed mummies of Andean ancestors. The nearby Chokepukio excavations have revealed a temple containing burials and artifacts documenting Inca religious rituals.
McEwan's important highly readable book about the Incas explains that the Andean people revered their ancestors. In life, the mummies had been political authorities. Their preservation was important to the continuation of land tenure and water rights in local communities. "Mummified ancestors were believed to bridge the gap between the natural and supernatural worlds . . . The mummy's most important function was to intervene in the spirit world in order to maintain the flow and abundance of water."
The Incas believed that springs and rivers harbored living spirits. They spread the ashes of fine-woven cloth and llamas upon the waters as a sacrifice. They built magnificent ceremonial and drinking water fountains at such places as Tipon (high above the Cusco Valley) and Machu Picchu (high above the Urubamba River). They harnessed stream and spring water for irrigation on ingeniously-constructed terraces that still hang in seemingly impossible ravines and mountain sides like Tipon, Moray, Pisac, and Machu Picchu.
The Incas built many granaries to feed the people in times of scarcity. These were carefully situated on slopes in dry areas with good drainage. They contained dried corn, quinoa, freeze-dried potatoes, beans, other vegetables, and seeds. The Incas also built large storehouses for holding cloth, tents, agricultural tools, and weapons. "The capacity of the storage system was staggering . . . Careful records were kept on the knotted cords of the quipu that could tell an Inca official at any time exactly how much of what commodity was stored in each of the storehouses."
When a new region was incorporated into the Inca empire, its lands were carefully surveyed and catalogued. The lands were divided into three sections, one part in service to the state religion, one part for the emperor, and the remaining part for sustenance of the local population. Herds of llamas and alpacas, and the pasturage for them, were also divided into thirds on the same basis.
The Incas exacted a labor tax for producing food and cloth and building the roads, agricultural terraces, water systems, palaces, temples, and administrative centers. Great care was taken to equally distribute the labor tax burden. Only a few men were taken out of each administrative unit for labor elsewhere. By keeping sufficient labor at home, the administrative units of the empire "could maintain agricultural output and not disrupt the economy. . . The underlying ideology was that of a reciprocal exchange. The state provided for the worker in exchange for the labor the worker gave the state."
McEwan explains that, when the ruling Inca died, his lands were reserved to him as a separate estate maintained by a cadre of attendants. This meant that the new Inca had to conquer more lands to obtain wealth for himself. As the empire expanded, those who were the greatest warriors among the ruling class became the Inca in succession. They often spent long periods of time on the frontier away from the capitol of Cusco. This led to unrest and rival factions that played directly into the Spanish conquest.
This book is highly readable because McEwan progresses from an overview of Inca civilization into chapters that deal with the environmental setting; historical setting; origins, growth and decline of Inca civilization; economic structure of the Inca state; social organization and structure; political structure; religion and ideology; material culture; and intellectual accomplishments.
The chapters contain many interesting subheadings, photographs, and illustrations. McEwan carefully cites the bibliography of Andean cultural research with endnotes to the chapters. He finishes the book with an assessment of major controversies and future directions in Inca studies.
McEwan knows from on-the-ground work what he writes about. In 2002, he was kind enough to lead me through the Pikillacta and Chokepukio sites. At the invitation of the Peruvian crew he hires from the local community, I witnessed a pago. On page 144 of his book, there's a photograph of a shaman preparing the about-to-be-burned offering to Pachamama (mother earth). The bundle I saw burned contained a lama fetus, an octopus tentacle, grain, candy, cookies, bits of yarn, coca leaves, and sea shells. I will never forget the sight and smell of smoke from this offering curling into the highlands.
As McEwan so aptly relates in this book, the Andean people still revere the earth, the mountains, the waters, and the sky.
Concise and Complete.......2006-04-04
Hooray for Gordon McEwan and his fine book, "The Incas!" He tells us about the Inca and their cultural heritage in down-to-earth, easy-to-read language. McEwan covers the subject in 201 concise pages that provide a level of depth and breadth that should appeal to scholars, but contain enough background to orient someone new to the topic.
McEwan's extensive glossary is a terrific reference piece, and the index is very complete. Probably what I like the most about "The Incas," however, it its careful, scientific approach; the information is dependably well researched and devoid of speculation.
I would recommend "The Inca" to anyone interested in the Inca Empire, arm-chair travellers, and persons planning to travel to any part of the former Inca Empire, including Machu Picchu. The book will double your understanding, and consequently, your enjoyment, of the Inca culture.
Average customer rating:
- My first book on Inca civilization...
- Daily Life in the Inca Empire
|
Daily Life in the Inca Empire (The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series)
Michael A. Malpass
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
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The Incas (The Peoples of America)
ASIN: 0313293902 |
Book Description
Up to now, little has been known about the life of the ordinary Inca during the Inca empire--earlier works describe only the culture of the ruling class. Based on the most recent scholarship, this book reconstructs the daily life not only of the ruling class but of the rest of society, including the conquered peoples, and features contrasting chapters on "a day in the life" of an Inca family and "a day in the life" of a conquered family. Over 50 illustrations and photographs of Inca life, artifacts, and archaeological sites bring the social, political, economic, religious, and cultural aspects of Inca civilization to life. Everything from life cycle events to food and drink, dress and ornaments, recreation, religious rituals, the calendar, and the unique Inca form of taxation are fully described and illustrated in the most comprehensive coverage of the Inca way of life to date. For ease of use by students, the work is organized into chapters covering all aspects of life: military and warfare, government, language, class structure, work and the economy, engineering and architecture, housing, transportation, family life, life cycle events, women's roles, art, music and dance, literature, science, and religion. It includes a historical timeline of Inca history, a glossary of Inca terms, and a bibliography for further reading. Throughout the work, Malpass, an expert on the Inca, shows how they created the largest empire in the western hemisphere prior to European conquest and describes the threat of their destruction by development and looting. This work will replace all earlier resources on Inca life and will provide school and public librarians with the most up-to-date and historically correct information on the Inca.
Customer Reviews:
My first book on Inca civilization..........2005-09-12
I've always been enamored with ancient civilizations. Greece and Rome weighed heavily in my architectural education, Medieval Europe and Feudal Japan appealed to my notions of honor and duty, but frankly I know little about ancient Americans. This book gave me (as a newcomer) the opportunity to get inside Inca life, mentally walk the streets of Cuzco, and wonder at the remaining Inca culture. It is readable for the novice and I recommend it for anyone interested in visiting Peru.
Daily Life in the Inca Empire.......2000-05-30
This book discusses the Inka in-depth, carefully using archaeological and historical evidence, in a way which brings them to life for the reader. The author manages to combine detail and easy reading without compromising either. In preparation to give a college lecture on the Inka, I got this book out of the library along with about 10 other scholarly texts. In the end, there was nothing in any of those other books that this book didn't cover just as thoroughly, but in a format which made it more interesting to read! This would be a terrific book for armchair archaeologists as well as students and teachers.
Book Description
This book is an account of the author's personal journey through Peru and an introduction to the secret teachings and ancient traditions of the Incas. It explains the steps that are needed to incorporate a new spiritual practice into your life. It will teach you to embrace a new tradition by making a commitment to re-examine your personal values and goals. You'll find valuable information about initiation, tool gathering, choosing a totem, shamanic work, astral viewing, power rituals, recapitulation, ayahuasca use, and the drawing of natural energies. A guide for both beginners and knowledgeable practitioners this is an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in Shamanism, the work of Carlos Castaneda, Neo-Paganism, the magic and mystery of Peru, or any other Earth-spirited traditions.
Customer Reviews:
His story, not really about Inca.......2007-01-04
This is a story about a man and his spiritual journeys in Peru. He spends alot of time talking about synchronicities about adopting his Peruvian children. It's a heart-warming read about someone going through spiritual growth. However, if you are looking for information about Andean spiritual teachings then your best bets are Chamalú: The Shamanic Way of the Heart: Traditional Teachings from the Andes and Return of the Children of Light.
chutzpah.......2005-10-10
Do you want a recipe for how to become an instant writer of 'spiritual' lore? Go To Peru, adopt a couple of Peruvian orphans, superficially read a couple of tomes on Andean geography and 'shamanism', perhaps even take a tour or two.. and: lo! 'The Secrets of the Ancient Incas" is born. I give Langevin three stars for pure chutzpah. Needless to say, this book is not about 'ancient Incas', it is all about Langevin (what a great guy he is...etc..heh heh) and perhaps you will find buried in between the all too mundane travelogue a few New Age practices that fit quite well within the Magical Blend but have little to do with the Inka.
At least he is sincere and does not make things up, which is an achievement in itself if one considers the feeding frenzy that plagues popular Andean shamanism these days. If you want more substance, I'd go for Williams, Villoldo, or even Wilcox
Looking for inspiration and found it!!.......2002-07-03
This book is such a wonderful combination of a heartfelt story of the author's journies to Peru and the ancient incan rituals that can enrich and enhance our lives. As a story the book was captivating and as a "how to" the book was inspiring.
I loved this book!.......2002-05-22
Secrets of the Ancient Incas spoke to something deep inside of me. It gave me hope for earth and humanities future tied to the Inca's past. I am using the guided rituals in my day to day life and I love them.I feel as if I have been given an intrudution to a new set of comic guides. I have never been to Peru yet I now know, after reading this book, I have to go at some time. This book is one of those few books, I will save and reread again and again. I highly recommend it to anyone with an open mind.
Customer Reviews:
A great resource book.......2007-08-13
I bought this book some time back and its been a really great addition to my library! Its written in modern simple language, loads of pictures and diagrams. Its a really indepth look at the history, culture and daily life of the Inca.
recommended reading.......2007-06-30
Fabulous, intriguing and colorful resource for understanding the culture and daily life of the Ancient Incas.
Book Description
David Frye's skillful translation and abridgment of Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala's monumental First New Chronicle and Good Government (composed between 1600 and 1616) offers an unprecedented glimpse into pre-colonial Inca society and culture, the Spanish conquest of Peru (1532-1572), and life under the corrupt Spanish colonial administration. An Introduction provides essential historical and cultural background and discusses the author's literary and linguistic innovations. A map, a glossary of terms, and seventy-five of Guaman Poma's ink drawings are also included.
Customer Reviews:
Endlessly Fascinating.......2006-09-01
The book is a little dry, but you'd expect that from something by the National Research Council. The information within is concise, well-organized and extremely impressive. Have you ever heard of Tarwi before? No? Well it could be the next big bean to replace soy. It just needs a little R & D.
Highland plants of economic value found here.......2003-02-19
I found this book full of very useful information of food plants from the high altitudes of the Andes. The book also has lower altitude plants used by the Incas.
Highland plants of economic value found here.......2003-02-19
I found this book full of very useful information of food plants from the high altitudes of the Andes. The book also has lower altitude plants used by the Incas.
Average customer rating:
|
Journey to Ollantaytambo: In the Sacred Valley of the Incas
Ethan Hubbard
Manufacturer: Chelsea Green Pub Co
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ASIN: 0930031288 |
Book Description
The History of the Incas may be the best description of Inca life and mythology to survive Spanish colonization of Peru. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, a well-educated sea captain and cosmographer of the viceroyalty, wrote the document in Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire, just forty years after the arrival of the first Spaniards. The royal sponsorship of the work guaranteed Sarmiento direct access to the highest Spanish officials in Cuzco. It allowed him to summon influential Incas, especially those who had witnessed the fall of the Empire. Sarmiento also traveled widely and interviewed numerous local lords (
curacas), as well as surviving members of the royal Inca families. Once completed, in an unprecedented effort to establish the authenticity of the work, Sarmiento's manuscript was read, chapter by chapter, to forty-two indigenous authorities for commentary and correction.
The scholars behind this new edition (the first to be published in English since 1907) went to similarly great lengths in pursuit of accuracy. Translators Brian Bauer and Vania Smith used an early transcript and, in some instances, the original document to create the text. Bauer and Jean-Jacques Decoster's introduction lays bare the biases Sarmiento incorporated into his writing. It also theorizes what sources, in addition to his extensive interviews, Sarmiento relied upon to produce his history. Finally, more than sixty new illustrations enliven this historically invaluable document of life in the ancient Andes.
Customer Reviews:
Conquistadors History.......2000-07-07
This translation of the work of Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa is both riveting and detailed. As an account of the history of the Incas it is unsurpassed in its accuracy, presenting evidence gained from the Incas themselves circa 1570AD. Events and occurrences are vividly portrayed although the reader is always left with a sense of myth being mixed with fact. Also the annoying use of Italics to mark out the obvious and often contradictory statements forced to be included in the book by the Spanish Viceroy of the time is somewhat demeaning.
Despite this the translation serves as a fascinating read and as a lucid and detailed account of the history of the Incas. The translator has also included an invaluable lexicon of Quechua words and useful maps of the areas in question that add a realism to the book that would be otherwise unachievable.
A stunning and informative read this work is equally capable of being a book of general interest or an accurate academic source. However the prime benefit of this book is not its authenticity but its rich detail that illustrates the lifestyle of the ancient Incas in a truly vivid manner. It is also interesting to note the strong religious superiority that is portrayed by the author and the attitudes of the Spanish conquistadors towards the Incas that were apparent during this period of history and to observe how these factors shaped the type of history that was recorded during this period, a fact that is all to easy to overlook.
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