The Last Days of the Incas: Kim MacQuarrie

This was a devastating historical book pieced together by both the Spaniard's and the Inca's account of what happened when the Spanish conquered Peru. The story goes from the Spaniards on their horses and disease wiping out thousands of natives to the Incas having victories. Their downfall seemed to be the divided nation, if factions of the natives didn't help the conquistadors most of them would have perished. The Spaniards also had a seemingly endless supply of men that kept getting shipped there from Spain. I was surprised to learn of how many Incan Kings were deceived and murdered by the conquistadors. I hadn’t realized how many family lines were wiped out. It was also interesting to learn the differences in the way the different tribal nations fought and dressed, and that the Amazonians were never “conquered”. The Incan victories were also impressive with how they used their landscape to their advantage, using the hills and causing flooding. I liked that the book didn't end with the last Incan stand, but with Brigham Young's rediscovery of Machu Picchu. This sent the message that the Incas are still alive today and in their native valleys and living alongside the Spanish descendants in the big cities.