The epic story of the fall of the Inca Empire to Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in the aftermath of a bloody civil war; and the recent discovery of the lost guerrilla capital of the Incas; Vilcabamba; by three American explorers.In 1532; the fifty-four-year-old Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro led a force of 167 men; including his four brothers; to the shores of Peru. Unbeknownst to the Spaniards; the Inca rulers of Peru had just fought a bloody civil war in which the emperor Atahualpa had defeated his brother Huascar. Pizarro and his men soon clashed with Atahualpa and a huge force of Inca warriors at the Battle of Cajamarca. Despite being outnumbered by more than two hundred to one; the Spaniards prevailed—due largely to their horses; their steel armor and swords; and their tactic of surprise. They captured and imprisoned Atahualpa. Although the Inca emperor paid an enormous ransom in gold; the Spaniards executed him anyway. The following year; the Spaniards seized the Inca capital of Cuzco; completing their conquest of the largest native empire the New World has ever known. Peru was now a Spanish colony; and the conquistadors were wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. But the Incas did not submit willingly. A young Inca emperor; the brother of Atahualpa; soon led a massive rebellion against the Spaniards; inflicting heavy casualties and nearly wiping out the conquerors. Eventually; however; Pizarro and his men forced the emperor to abandon the Andes and flee to the Amazon. There; he established a hidden capital; called Vilcabamba—only recently rediscovered by a trio of colorful American explorers. Although the Incas fought a deadly; thirty-six-year-long guerrilla war; the Spanish ultimately captured the last Inca emperor and vanquished the native resistance.
#2301801 in Books 2014-12-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.90 x .61 x 5.85l; .86 #File Name: 0742570444224 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A must for any collector of African American or WWI historyBy Anne ClarksonSo far this book is fantastic it covers in great detail the history of African Americans as a people and their challenges for the right to be called citizens of the United States. Though other nationalities arrived on these shores; for the most part; voluntarily; most African American families know that their ancestors arrived here after being stolen from their homeland and forced into the degradation of servitude and loss of oneself. Yet even generations later after the battles for freedom which many of our own died fighting in (both the Revolutionary and the Civil Wars) by 1914 we were still not considered citizens of the United States with the right of every man; the right to vote. Now in 1916 our country was again a war and we as a people were being called up to service; to spread the freedom of democracy to a war ravaged Europe. This democratic freedom which we did not even have; in our own country; we were asked to fight to give to the world; where were our loyalties going to fall in this time of trial? Get the book you will love it too.
