William H. Prescott (1796–1859)

The Conquest of Peru, by William H. Prescott, was written in the mid 1800's and so is written in the language of the time. Much more expressive (flowery?) than a story told today. It is also very thin on how the native peoples were treated during and immediately after the conquest period covered in this book, although that is to be expected considering (1) what the focus of the book was/is - the conquest itself, and (2) the lack of importance that was put on the plight of native peoples at the time. That being said, the story of the Conquest of Peru seems to be taken from source materials such as letters, diaries, and official documents. These accounts give us an appreciation of the conditions the conquistadors lived through to accomplish what they did. I was never bored as the descriptions of the individuals are three dimensional and colorful.
The book actually starts out with a wonderful framework of how the Incan Empire worked. The tiered hierarchy of life in Peru before the advent of the Spanish. As I read the accounts of daily life of these people, from the lowest worker to the highest ranking Inca, I watched several documentaries on the subject. I had thought that, perhaps, the information Prescott worked with had radically changed over the many decades of archeological studies. It has not. There has been some "filling in the blanks" as to daily life, but, the basic framework of life is the same as when Prescott was alive. Most probably this information also came from the same sources I previously alluded to: letters, diaries, and official documents. As it was, prior to moving in to fully conquer the Incas, Pizarro and his ilk made peaceful expeditionary explorations to learn the lay of the land.
All in all, I defiantly am happy to have read this book. It was from my dad's library which I inherited after he died.… (mehr)