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The Last Days of the Incas Paperback – October 2, 2008

by Kim MacQuarrie (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,383 ratings
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In 1532, the fifty-four-year-old Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro led a force of 167 men, including his four brothers, to the shores of Peru. Unbeknownst to the Spaniards, the Inca rulers of Peru had just fought a bloody civil war in which the emperor Atahualpa had defeated his brother Huascar. Pizarro and his men soon clashed with Atahualpa and a huge force of Inca warriors at the Battle of Cajamarca. Despite being outnumbered by more than two hundred to one, the Spaniards prevailed -- due largely to their horses, their steel armor and swords, and their tactic of surprise. They captured and imprisoned Atahualpa. Although the Inca emperor paid an enormous ransom in gold, the Spaniards executed him anyway. The following year, the Spaniards seized the Inca capital of Cuzco, completing their conquest of the largest native empire the New World has ever known. Peru was now a Spanish colony, and the conquistadors were wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.
But the Incas did not submit willingly. A young Inca emperor, the brother of Atahualpa, soon led a massive rebellion against the Spaniards, inflicting heavy casualties and nearly wiping out the conquerors. Eventually, however, Pizarro and his men forced the emperor to abandon the Andes and flee to the Amazon. There, he established a hidden capital, called Vilcabamba. Although the Incas fought a deadly, thirty-six-year-long guerrilla war, the Spanish ultimately captured the last Inca emperor and vanquished the native resistance.

Kim MacQuarrie lived in Peru for five years and became fascinated by the Incas and the history of the Spanish conquest. Drawing on both native and Spanish chronicles, he vividly describes the dramatic story of the conquest, with all its savagery and suspense. MacQuarrie also relates the story of the modern search for Vilcabamba, of how Machu Picchu was discovered, and of how a trio of colorful American explorers only recently discovered the lost Inca capital of Vilcabamba, hidden for centuries in the Amazon.

This authoritative, exciting history is among the most powerful and important accounts of the culture of the South American Indians and the Spanish Conquest.
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  1. Print length
    522 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Little, Brown
  4. Publication date
    October 2, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    5.12 x 1.42 x 7.72 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0749929936
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0749929930
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"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... 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.
--Entertainment Weekly

"Fascinating and enthralling...the direct narrative brings alive people who existed 500 years ago. Truly a work worth Inca gold." --The History Magazine

About the Author

Kim MacQuarrie is a writer, a four-time Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, and an anthropologist. He is the author of four books on Peru and lived in that country for five years. During that time, MacQuarrie lived with a recently-contacted tribe of indigenous Amazonians, called the Yora. It was MacQuarrie's experience filming a nearby group of indigenous people, whose ancestors still remembered their contacts with the Inca Empire, that ultimately led him to investigate and then to write his latest book, "The Last Days of the Incas." The book was selected by the Kiriyama Prize Committee as a "notable book" for 2008 and as an "Outstanding Academic Title" by Choice. MacQuarrie is currently at work on a book of travels through South America.Visit his website at: kimmacquarrie.com or his blog at lastdaysoftheincas.com/wordpress

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown; Mass Market Paperback edition (October 2, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 522 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0749929936
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0749929930
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.12 x 1.42 x 7.72 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,383 ratings

About the author

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Kim MacQuarrie

Kim MacQuarrie

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Kim MacQuarrie is a writer, a four-time Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, and an anthropologist. He is the author of four books on Peru and lived in that country for five years. During that time, MacQuarrie lived with a recently-contacted tribe of indigenous Amazonians, called the Yora. It was MacQuarrie's experience filming a nearby group of indigenous people, whose ancestors still remembered their contacts with the Inca Empire, that ultimately led him to investigate and then to write his book, "The Last Days of the Incas." A History Book Club and Military Book Club selection, the book was also chosen by the Kiriyama Prize Committee as a "notable book" for 2008 and as an "Outstanding Academic Title" by Choice.

MacQuarrie's latest book, "Life and Death in the Andes: On the Trail of Bandits, Heroes, and Revolutionaries," is about a 4,300-mile journey along the Andes Mountains, the longest mountain chain in the world. During the journey, MacQuarrie investigated the lives and stories of Pablo Escobar, Che Guevara, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Charles Darwin, Thor (Kon Tiki) Heyerdahl, and even an Inca "Ice Maiden," sacrificed 500 years ago on top of a 20,000-foot volcano, yet still perfectly preserved. Visit his website at: www.kimmacquarrie.com or his blog at www.kimmacquarrie.com/blog

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
1,383 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Keith Hansen
5.0 out of 5 stars Pizarro's Gamble Almost Failed
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023
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This book is a well-written, popular history surrounding the mostly unknown but immoral treachery by the Conquistadors over the young Incan empire and the immediate events surrounding it, including a Conquistador civil war and a long Incan guerrilla insurgency. However, I found the epilogue of the book about the 20th century discovery of Vilcabamba - last of the Incan capitals - to be dull and unnecessary.

The book was enthralling and reads like a novel. However, I would have preferred a bit more of an academic treatment as it was unclear how such a small band of rapacious adventurers managed to hold together a sprawling empire even while fighting amongst themselves. I also found the great siege of Cuzco to be anti-climatic with insufficient explanation of how the Conquistadors managed to survive what should have been annihilation.

As for the Pizarro brothers - they were rogues and despicable people not worthy of any respect, although Francisco may have been the least roguish of the lot. The treachery, greed, and mercilessness was hard to read. However, it should be remembered that these men should not be considered representative of all Spaniards at that time, coming from backwards Extremadura as they were. Nor should the Conquistadors be considered as agents of the King of Spain as they were independent free-lancers and in fact there were attempts to rein in their excesses (though they were rewarded with encomiendas).

The gambit by the Conquistadors was successful because its timing was fortuitous - the Incan empire was actually relatively new and managed by a tiny minority. Then the emperor died from disease leading to a fratricidal civil war that weakened the empire just when the Pizarro brothers captured Atahuallpa. The Incans struggled to deal with the horses and gunpowder, which they had no experience with - although this novelty soon wore off as the Incans developed methods to counteract. Finally, the Incans were naive as to the Conquistador's motives not having any experience with such rapaciousness and treachery (though the Incan emperors could be just as merciless). Ironically, when Almagro was merciful to his fellow Conquistadors, he paid with his life.

Easy, fun and informative read so recommended.
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doc peterson
4.0 out of 5 stars "El que mas tiene, mas quiere" (He who has more, wants more)
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2012
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The Spanish proverb, "He who has more, wants more" could not be more apt for the Spanish conquest and occupation of South America, especially regarding their usurpation of the Incas. MacQuarrie does a truly outstanding job of describing the decades-long struggle for control of western South America, the only significant drawback being his inclusion of the modern archaeloglical competition (and conflict) over the discovery of "lost" Incan ruins.

It is a compelling story. Francisco Pizarro arrived in South America with a mere handful of men (168 soldiers, 62 on horseback), "seeking a way around one of life's basic rules ... In Peru, as elsewhere in the Americas, Spaniards were not looking for fertile land that they could farm, they were looking for the cessatin of their own need to perform manual labor." In this respect, Pizarro and his men became successful beyond their wildest imaginings. This is not to suggest that the Incas easily gave up and went gently into that good night - far from it. For fourty years the Inca tenaciously and heroically fought back before eventually capitulating. MacQuarrie is not a historian, yet he has meticulously researched and cited his sources in his retelling of the encounter between the Spaniards and the Incas, to his credit. He is also a good writer, vividly putting readers in the center of the action and intrigue.

And there is plenty of intrigue, on the parts of both Inca and Spaniards. The Inca had no formal line of succession - when an emperor died, civil war was expected, the strongest son surviving. This political infighting was exploited by the Spaniards. On their first contact, Atahualpa (the then emperor of the Inca) planned on castrating the Spaniards and seizing their horses - Pizarro, however, struck first. Even as the Spaniards began to consolidate their power, there was infighting, manipulation and double-dealing between groups of conquistadors. It would be difficult for a writer to invent the thrilling ups and downs of the fortunes of the principal characters as the story unfolds, and MacQuarrie retells it in a masterfully.

Why, then the four stars? Bookending this riveting true story, MacQuarrie includes the 20th century rediscovery of Maccu Piccu, Ollantaytambo, Vitcos and Vilacabamba by modern archaeologists and fortune hunters. Like the Spaniards before them, these men were similarly driven, this time not by gold, but fame and international recognition. And like the Spaniards, there was intrigue and manipulation, in this case over who was the first to "discover" these ruins (I use quotation marks, as in several cases, Peruvian natives were literally living alongside and in these "lost" ruins - of course, scarcely any mention is made of this by those who "found" them). While this was interesting, I felt it didn't fit very well with the broader historical narrative.

As a general history, this is really excellent work. The politics, economy and society of the Inca are intertwined with the personal histories of Pizarro (and other familiar names like De Soto and Leon, both of whom participated in the conquest of the Inca before seeking their own fortunes) and the Machiavellian plotting fueled by greed of the Spaniards. Highly recommended.
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ROF
5.0 out of 5 stars Very well written.
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2024
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Great book. Very well written. Incredible documentation. The book explains how the Conquistadores were able to dominate an immense Empire. I have learned a lot from reading this. Unfortunately human nature doesnt come out looking good here. Highly recommended.
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John E. Pepper
5.0 out of 5 stars A Remarkably Engaging and Informing Narrative of the Inca Empire and the Spanish Who Brought it Down
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2022
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I just finished reading this book. It is a remarkably well-told history which I had little known. There are no heroes; only faceless victims of the naked pursuit of power no matter what the cost to others.. Rarely, if ever, have I read a book which exposes more treachery and brutality on all sides. Brothers fighting and killing fellow brothers on the Inca side, part of the explanation for its ultimate demise. Treachery and brutality among the Pizarro brothers, starting with Francisco, and their henchmen. Civil wars within the Spanish themselves, first between the conquistadors and then with the royal government.

It’s remarkable to me what the Incas achieved in being able to pull together over three centuries with a rule over 10 million people and create the architectural wonders they did. All of it was decimated in the course of one generation. Unspeakable tragedy.

The parallel history of the discovery of Machu Picchu, Vitcos and then Vilcabamba is fascinating. And duplicity reigned, too, among the explorers. Hiram Bingham clearly overstating the conviction that Machu Picchu was the foundational capital. And later the explorer Savoy who discovered Vilcabamba, co-opting the material which another archaeologist found (Lee).

The quest for power and the willingness to stoop to any length to get it which MacQuarrie so vividly communicates in a novelistic style will not soon leave me.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars It's wonderful when a book can combine such a high degree ...
Reviewed in Canada on June 7, 2017
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This book is a must read for anyone going to Peru with the intention of learning about Peru and its history. The supporting research is impressive and the story is told with a high degree of interest. It's wonderful when a book can combine such a high degree of information and still be so readable and entertaining. Some of the passages are truly unforgettable. If you are planning to go to Peru I suggest that you decline any offers to play horse shoes.
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eric tan
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read, if you wonder how a group of Conquistadores could conquer the Inca Empire.
Reviewed in Singapore on December 20, 2020
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Kim MacQuarrie's book brings this historically fascinating event to life, not just from accounts of the Spaniards but also from local accounts. It has filled a long-vacant gap in my appreciation for the history of South America. Amazon has ensued speedy and immaculate delivery.
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siddharth
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible
Reviewed in India on March 24, 2017
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A history book that reads like a superb thriller. The material is well researched and extremely interesting in itself. But Kim Macquarrie gives it that extra magic which keeps you at the edge of your seat anticipating the next twist in the complex dance between the Incas and the Spanish
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Rafael
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente Livro
Reviewed in Brazil on August 4, 2016
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Um excelente livro para quem tem interesse de conhecer a história do império Inca e como ocorreu seu declínio.
Autor foi fantástico neste livro
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Isa1960
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting book and enjoyable to read
Reviewed in France on January 4, 2016
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I am really enjoying this book. It is easy to read, yet also very interesting and informative. I would recommend!
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