25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Detailed and balanced account of Spanish occupation of Peru, April 11, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Discovery and Conquest of Peru (Chronicles of the New World Encounter) (Paperback)
This work is actually part 3 in the series of volumes written by the author, who wrote about the events of the Spanish conquest of Peru soon after they occurred. This part 3 was never published and only discovered in the 70's. It comes across as a well-balanced presentation of events as the partners of Francisco Pizzaro and Diego de Almegro search for and discover the Inca civilization in the Andean region of South America. Detailed and easy to read and understand, the author himself was not involved in the events but was able to speak with men still living from those times and understand it by recollecting of his own experiences. The book contains notes at the end of each chapter, some illustrations, maps, and a glossary. I found this work compelling, but its rating arises because it did not reach the level of some other conquest stories, such as D and C of Mexico, De Vaca, or La Florida (available in De Soto Chronicles). But is the only thorough account of the Peruvian conquest I am aware of apart from that of Pedro Pizarro. Another recently uncovered work, Narrative of the Incas, tells of events from the Inca's perspective.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The discovery and conquest of Peru by P. Ceiza de León, June 8, 2007
This review is from: The Discovery and Conquest of Peru (Chronicles of the New World Encounter) (Paperback)
The discovery and conquest of Peru by Ceiza de León is one of the most important 16th century of the Contact Period. This is a primary account based upon first hand experience and descriptions. Ceiza de León was with Francisco Pizzaro when the Spanish first arrived on the Peruvian coast and was one of the few chroniclers who wrote about what he observed in the Inca Imperial capital of Cuzco before it was destroyed by the Spanish. For example, his description of the Temple of the Sun or Coricancha is one of a handful of first hand accounts we have of this important religious center. Ceiza de Leon also has drawings of Contact Period Peru which provide excellent comparative references with what was illustrated by other chroniclers who subsequently came to this region. The English translation of this account is excellent. This is based upon my comparisons of this translation, with what I have seen as it was written in 16th century Spanish.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Readable Account of Incan History and The Conquest, January 24, 2011
This review is from: The Discovery and Conquest of Peru (Chronicles of the New World Encounter) (Paperback)
Incan Civilization isn't exactly "pre-historic." True, they didn't have writing technically speaking but their rise was more or less contemporaneous with the arrival of the Spainards. The Incans themselves didn't really exist before 1300 AD- before then they were just another tribe. The civilization laid south as evidenced by the Tuahuacnian ruins south of Titicaca. The so-called "Nazca" lines were created by the same people, around 1000 AD. Clearly, the Incans didn't invent civilization in the Andes. The Incans didn't even create the language, Quechan, which became the lingua franca of the entire Andes at the time of Spanish contact. Quechan came from a group that lived north of the original base for the Incans.
The writer of this book, Pedro de Cieza, was actually a soldier who travelled with the Conquistador's who conquered the Incan empire. His lengthy, well written history of pre-Columbian Peru lay more or less forgotten until well into the 19th century. This particular English translation was published in 1959- the first American edition, I think. Cieza was not high ranking Conquistador, he was more a page or assistant type.
The Incas makes a great starting point for anyone trying to grasp the complexity of pre-Columbian Andean civilization. Cieza describes the history of the Incan Empire in detail, and he travelled to almost all of the locations he wrote about. Cieza was the first person to describe the potato, he was the first person to write about the Tuohuacian civilization and also the first person to link them to the Nazca Area pre Incan civilization. He was both sympathetic to Incan achievments and skeptical about their claims regarding bringing civilization to the larger Andean region. He accurately described the arriviste nature of the Incans, similar in many ways to the rise of the Aztecs in the valley of Mexico prior to the contact with Cortes.
The great irony of the Incan Empire is that it was their penchant for collecting gold, silver and jewels that made them such an attractive target to the Spainards. The Incans were already mining precious metals from the mountains before the Europeans showed up. They loved gold and silver. Truly, the Incan Spanish conflict is the one time when the whole city of gold thing actually worked out. That city of gold was Cuzco, and the Spainards took all the gold, and then discovered the largest mine of silver in the entire world in Potosi (modern day Bolivia) so that by the early 17th century Galleons filled with silver were being loaded outside of Lima.
The Incans made it easy for the Spanish because they had gone through the distinct trouble of pacifying and homogenizing a hugely diverse area. The Incans gave everyone one language- Quechan- they build highways through the mountains to facilitate rapid transit between all points of the Empire. All the Conquistadors had to do was find Cuzco and they could go anywhere the Incans had been.
The entire book illustrates the age old principle of conflicts between civilizations: A well assembled Empire is easy to take over then a bunch of ununified Tribes.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
