Irrespective of sentiments and political correctness (PC Brigade alert), Pizzaro's conquest of the Incas-while nefarious-also holds perpetual lessons for us in the form of leadership contrasts between both the Conquistadores and the Incan Royalty. And these contrasts form a crucial backdrop to MacQuarrie's narration of the rise and fall of the Incan Empire. Intertwined alongside are the fates of the Pizzaro clan and the turns in their fortunes. This is an epic tour de force rendition of a tragic history which reverberates as viscerally today as it did when the events mentioned transpired. ( )

If you've ever considered travelling to Peru, and especially Machu Picchu, you really should read this book before you go. The book describes the Inca culture and civilization at the time of the Spanish conquest, and explains how such a small contingent of European Christian explorers could overcome the native population while being so vastly outnumbered. It also describes the ancient ruins, and the popular tourist destination Machu Picchu. It truly puts the story of the Country in perspective, and remains informative and interesting even while being rather long (22 discs on audiobook). ( )

Mr. MacQuarrie has written a more colourful update to John Hemming's book on the destruction of the Empire of the Four Quarters. The tone is somewhat more sensation, the information is sketchier in some areas, but as in the case of the identification of the "Lost City" of Vilcabamba, the coverage is more fine grained. The book benefits from the research and archaeology done since Hemming's day, and there is more information about the actual function and probable history of Machu Picchu. If you have read this book as well as the earlier book by Hemming, you will be well equipped for going deeper into the Inca culture, and that of the Spanish Empire as a whole. ( )

This is an excellent history of the Incas, Spanish conquest. Highly recommend before you visit Machu Picchu and other Inca sites in Peru. ( )

Excellent, well-written history of one of the world's greatest empires and how it fell. ( )

There are several books about the history of the Incas. The one I chose is Kim MacQuarrie’s “The Last Days of the Incas” (2007), and it is a good choice. Mr MacQuarrie writes, in a very accessible style – sometimes perhaps a little too lightheartedly – about the rise and fall, over a very short period, of the Inca empire. Briefly about the rise, its first expansion in around 1470 and further growth in the years after, and mostly about the Spanish band of conquistadores under Francisco Pizarro and his half-brothers, who expertly manipulated the naïve Inca emperors and where necessary – and often unnecessary – demonstrated their cruelty in subduing the locals. Which ultimately, despite a 30 year guerrilla war, led to the empire’s demise, ending with the execution of the last Inca emperor Tupac Amaru in 1572. Mr MacQuarrie tries to explain why a bunch of 168 horsemen manage to capture an emperor protected by 80,000 warriors, and why time and again small groups of Spanish beat large armies of Incas: they simply proved invincible with their armour, their steel weapons and their horses. Even internal intrigues and open hostilities amongst various Spanish power brokers are not being exploited by the Incas. It remains hard to believe, but the facts of history are there.
The last few chapters are dedicated to the explorers who discovered several of the major Inca sites, Machu Picchu and Vilcabamba, in the 20th Century. Entertaining, reading how they frequently were more focussed on their own achievements, and on competing for fame, than on historical correctness.
Great book, great to read whilst traveling Peru and visiting all the sites that played a major role in the battle between Spaniards and Incas. ( )

I read half of this. There are some interesting tidbits. However, endless battles where the Incas are hopefully out fought by greedy vicious bullies who win because they have iron, steel, horses and cannons is really disgusting. ( )

This book is a page turner that reads like fiction but it is not. I feel more educated on who the Incas and Spaniards were at that point of time. The Incas and the Spaniards were both rulers at a time when if you could take something with power it was yours. Anything goes. Both ruled their people in a brutal way. I was not aware how much an advantage having a horse and armor was. ( )

Excellent read. Very interesting and well researched, yet reads more like a novel than a history book. This is an absolute must for anyone who has spent or will spend time in Peru. ( )

The history in this book reads like a horror novel, but it is no novel, it is what actually happened to the Incas when the Spanish raped and pillaged their land and people. I couldn't put this book down, even though parts of it were very disturbing. That humans could treat other humans like this is just scary. If you like reading about past cultures in the New World and their encounter with Europeans, this is an excellent book to read. ( )

A popular topic of discussion in European intellectual circles over the last couple of centuries has been the so-called Black Legend. Largely formulated in northern Protestant Europe, the Black Legend holds the the golden age of the Spanish Empire was a nightmare of brutality, repression, fanaticism and exploitation, and that the Spanish, both in Europe and in their American colonies, gloried in unspeakable acts in the name of God and the Spanish king. Not surprisingly, this belief was particularly strong in Britain and the Netherlands, two countries who had plenty of history with the Spanish. Equally unsurprisingly, the Spanish strongly reject the Black Legend, to the extent that some scholars now refer to a White Legend, a Spanish-sponsored revisionism which goes to the other extreme and portrays the Spanish as, if not exactly enlightened colonizers, as certainly much more humane than they have been portrayed. I’m not versed enough in Spanish colonial history to offer an educated opinion one way or another on the validity or otherwise of the Black Legend, however, after reading this book, I am quite comfortable saying that on the basis of Spanish activities in Peru, the Black Legend seems much more likely than the White. You will seldom find a more horrifying account of greed, brutality, venality and treachery than the history of Francisco Pizzaro’s conquest of the Inca Empire. There is really no saving grace for Spain here. In the space of four decades, a few thousand Spaniards wiped out a great and cultured civilization, murdered uncountable numbers of its inhabitants and subjected the rest to slavery, all in the name of God, Gold and Glory. The noble side of the story is the heroic resistance the Inca, using spears and swords against horses, muskets, armour and cannon, put up for those forty years. This is an extremely well-written account of horrors beyond imagining, an ugly and brutal story that is nonetheless enthralling. It is topped and tailed by an exciting account of the discovery of the lost Inca cities of Macchu Picchu and Vilcabamba and the eccentric characters who believed enough in the legends to go out and find them. I guess we wait now for Spanish revisionism of this story. I can’t see how it can be done, but it will be some job of restoration if it is achieved ( )

This was a well researched and well written account of the Spanish conquest of the Inca nation. I was naturally appalled, if not surprised, at the way the Spanish treated the natives. That said, it is equally important to remember the atrocities committed by the Incas in the name of religion. They were not the nicest people either. Last Days of the Incas was a page turner from the first encounter between Francisco Pizarro and the Inca to the final showdown between the warring Spanish over who would have control of the new colonies. Then, in an epilogue, MacQuarrie jumps forward to 1911 and gives a general overview of the modern explorers who discovered the ruins of the Inca cities, including Machu Picchu. At this point, things got a little weird for me. The material was still interesting, just in terms of knowing the timeline of when and how some of these amazing ruins were discovered, but I think the ins and outs of the competition to publish first and the personal lives of some of the explorers might well be a different book. Highly recommended, but beware. If you didn't already have Peru on your bucket list, you will after you read this book. ( )

Well written and researched the book pissed me off to end by its subject matter alone. One of the best, sadly non-fictional, accounts of the apocalypse you are likely to find ( )

This is an excellent book, and does a superb job in detailing the last years of the Inca Empire. Kim has done a marvellous job in bringing the last years of the Inca Empire. I had read about this vaguely, but this brought a whole new world to life.
He has been balanced in his approach, and while he undoubtedly indicts the Spanish for their appalling behaviour, he does, subtly, show that they were brave (but, cruel) men, who had no respect for the Inca culture. This is, however, not restricted to the Spanish. The English did not respect Indian culture when they came into India. My own countrymen have been guilty of similar transgressions, I am sure, when the South Indian kings spread Hindu culture in South Easy Asia. This does not excuse the Spaniards, however.
The last days have been brought to life in a manner that is sad, exciting, tragic all rolled into one. Yes, I agree with the reviewer "CJA' in that he could have spoken about how the Spanish subsequently tried to stamp out the Inca culture, but I would not have traded this for the tale of how the ruins were discovered.
All in all, a marvellous book. ( )

I wish there was more information available about the Incas pre-Pizarro, but there really isn't; what there is is here, along with a detailed and engrossing account of the Spanish conquest of the Incas. Excellent stuff and a gripping story. ( )

Gripping narrative account of the Spanish defeat of the Incas covering the years immediately before the arrival of the Spanish to the capture of the last Inca. This is a real page turner, bringing the events and characters on both sides of the conquest to life. It is easy to read and understand and a brilliant introduction to this period of Peruvian history. ( )

A comprehensive look at the Incas from the first contact with the Spanish to their sad end. Also includes a look at the discovery of the Incan ruins and their controversies. This book does a fine job of including enough detail to differentiate between historical figures, but not enough to slow the narrative. ( )

The Last Days of the Incas is a terrifically readable history of the Spanish conquest of the Incas and Peru. Whereas John Hemming's Conquest of the Incas is the definitive modern history, MacQuarrie brings to bear a more narrative and engaging approach.

Last Days is historically thorough, but MacQuarrie writes many of the incidents of the conquest in a more fictional style. Often scenes are are qualified with comments like "Undoubtedly, Pizarro felt such-and-such," or "No doubt Manco looked out over the valley, etc." Once one accepts the speculative commentary for what it is, it shouldn't be bothersome, and is more than made up for by the narrative flow.

The story of the conquest is well-known: Pizarro & co. swoop into Peru with only a handful of fully armed conquistadors looking for fame and fortune. This small band (aided unknowingly by a smallpox plague ravaging North, Central and South America) kidnap and kill their way to riches and domination. The Incas are able to consolidate their many tribes, but the rebellions all flame out.

Ultimately, the Spanish prevail despite their own internecine battles that ends in the death of Francisco Pizarro by Spanish hands.

John Hemming is for the hardest core academic reading of the Incan conquest. MacQuarrie is faster and more fiction-like read. Both are highly recommended. ( )

Thrilling and historically highly interesting. Motivates you to read on. ( )

The most recent and comprehensive retelling of the Spanish conquest of Peru, this history includes information not available to John Hemming, whose "Conquest of the Incas" was the standard of popular history for many years. In the last couple chapters, McQuarrie also includes a fascinating discussion of the efforts of explorers and archaeologists, beginning in the 20th century, to make sense of the material remains of Inca culture. ( )