THE LAST DAYS OF THE INCAS

In 1532, the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived in Peru. With a company of 167 men he brutally defeated the Inca emperor Atahualpa and eighty thousand of his warriors at the Battle of Cajamarca. The following year, the Spaniards seized the Inca capital of Cusco, believing that they had succeeded in conquering the largest native empire the New World has ever known.

But the Incas did not submit willingly. A young Inca emperor named Manco Inca, the brother of Atahualpa, soon led a massive rebellion against the Spaniards, nearly wiping them out. Eventually, he was forced to flee to the Amazon, where he established a hidden capital in the jungle, called Vilcabamba. From there, the Incas continued to defy the Spaniards, fighting a deadly guerrilla war that would last for thirty-six years.

Drawing on both native and Spanish chronicles, Kim MacQuarrie tells the dramatic story of the Spanish conquest, with all its savagery and suspense, and recounts the search for the lost capital of Vilcabamba and its recent discovery along with Machu Picchu in south eastern Peru. A fascinating historical account and a modern-day adventure tale, The Last Days of the Incas brings one of the greatest stories in the world vividly back to life.