Synopses & Reviews
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 is the first book fully to synthesize history and archaeology in a sweeping exploration of the entire empire from Chile to Ecuador. 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 photographys, this scholarly yet accessible book should become the new standard account of the most impressive of the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas.
Review
"Transforms the field of Inca studies."
Gary Urton, Harvard University "There have been many syntheses of the Inca culture of the Central Andes of South America, but this one, by the leader in Inca studies, surpasses them all." Choice
"[D'Altroy] is recognised as an outstanding and well-published scholar on the provinces of the Inca Empire. I highly recommend this excellent synthesis of Inca studies ... for its comparative empire insights ... its smooth and lively narrative style and for the critical discussion of the abundant historical and archaeological sources on the Inca empire." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Synopsis
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 remote Andean settlement near Lake Titicaca to its rapid demise six centuries later at the hands of the Spanish conquerors.
- A bold new history by the world's leading expert on Incan civilization.
- Covers the entire Andean region, five countries and ten million people.
- Heavily illustrated with maps, figures, and photographs.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [337]-376) and index.
About the Author
Terence N. D'Altroy is Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University, Director of the Columbia Center for Archaeology, and the world's leading Inca specialist. He is the author of Provincial Power in the Inka Empire (1992), co-author, with Christine A. Hastorf, of Empire and Domestic Economy (2001), and co-editor of Empires (2001).
Table of Contents
List of Figures.
List of Plates.
List of Tables.
Preface.
1. Introduction.
2. The Land and its People.
3. The Incas before the Empire.
4. The Rise of the Empire: Narrative Visions.
5. The Politics of Blood in Cuzco.
6. The Heartland of the Empire.
7. Inca Ideology: Powers of the Sky and Earth, Past and Present.
8. Family, Community, and Class.
9. Militarism.
10. Provincial Rule.
11. Farmers, Herders, and Storehouses.
12. Artisans and Artistry.
13. Invasion and Aftermath.
Glossary.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index