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chrisannee's review against another edition
3.0
Sold to me as "The Story of the Real Indiana Jones." That was a mistake. It was dulllllll. I liked Mann's summary of the trip and findings much better than this.
sethcrumrine's review against another edition
4.0
What a fantastic, engrossing chronicle of the discovery (lets be real here and not disregard that Indians in the area had already been chilling on the mountain and harvesting crops there) of Machu Picchu. Bingham had a hunch that Vitcos, which was mentioned in the histories as a sacred city that housed the Inca royalty, was somewhere in the vicinity of the Andes. He had a made a couple trips before and had found other sites that were very significant, but none that were quite as magnificent as Picchu. The re-telling just blew me away with its rich world-building weaving together the insane tapestry that was the Neo-Incan rule, and their flight from the Conquistadors into the mountain passes. It just seems like such a dreamland and really caters to the active side of me that wants to be running small alpine single track and rivers rushing beneath and valleys opening up below. The moment that Bingham uncovers the city wrapped in jungle must have been the most incredible thing. It's worth mentioning that Bingham, much like Robert Louis Stevenson, had a very respectful relationship towards the culture and people of the area. It makes for a better read.
sassydrpepperqueen's review against another edition
3.0
The first part of the book (containing the history of the Incas and reason for exploring their lands) was very interesting. Part two: the search isn't very captivating. Basically it's a travel log. While Bingham does his best to describe each hill and valley, it would be more beneficial if I was watching this on the discovery channel. Even though I've been to a couple of these places, I find myself lost and wondering if I can drudge through the rest of the book to discover more about what Bingham discovered about the Incan society.
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"Above all, there is the fascination of finding here and there under swaying vines, or perched on top of a beetling crag, the rugged masonry of a bygone race; and of trying to understand the bewildering romance of the ancient builders who, ages ago, sought refuge in a region which appears to have been expressly designed by nature as a sanctuary for the oppressed, a place where they might fearlessly and patiently give expression to their passion for walls of enduring beauty. Space forbids any attempt to describe in detail the constantly changing panorama, the rank tropical foliage, the countless terraces, the towering cliffs, the glaciers peeping out between the clouds."
"What a prodigious amount of patient effort had to be employed! Altogether the artistic workmanship is superb and must be seen to be appreciated. My photographs do not do it justice."
"Here concealed in a canyon of remarkable grandeur, protected by nature and by the hand of man, the "Virgins of the Sun," one by one passed away on this beautiful mountain top and left no descendants willing to reveal the importance or explain the significance of the ruins which crown the beetling precipices of Machu Picchu."
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"Above all, there is the fascination of finding here and there under swaying vines, or perched on top of a beetling crag, the rugged masonry of a bygone race; and of trying to understand the bewildering romance of the ancient builders who, ages ago, sought refuge in a region which appears to have been expressly designed by nature as a sanctuary for the oppressed, a place where they might fearlessly and patiently give expression to their passion for walls of enduring beauty. Space forbids any attempt to describe in detail the constantly changing panorama, the rank tropical foliage, the countless terraces, the towering cliffs, the glaciers peeping out between the clouds."
"What a prodigious amount of patient effort had to be employed! Altogether the artistic workmanship is superb and must be seen to be appreciated. My photographs do not do it justice."
"Here concealed in a canyon of remarkable grandeur, protected by nature and by the hand of man, the "Virgins of the Sun," one by one passed away on this beautiful mountain top and left no descendants willing to reveal the importance or explain the significance of the ruins which crown the beetling precipices of Machu Picchu."
hornj's review against another edition
5.0
I really good book. The first part, a description of the Incas is really well written, thorough but not caught up in the details. The second part, in which he discovers the city is fascinating. In the third he describes the finds, and it slows down a bit and some of his arguments are outdated by recent research, but still interesting.
sams84's review against another edition
4.0
This is an amazingly gripping account of the discovery of Machu Picchu by Bingham in 1911 as well as the discovery of a few other Incan locations that lead him to it. Despite being written in the late 1940s, this is a really readable account and brings the expedition to life with vivid descriptions of all aspects of life, from the day to day challenges of getting supplies deep in the jungle and to the top of mountains to the sense of awe as the scale of their discoveries hit home. The book starts with an summary of Incan history, particularly its last days and the arrival of the Spanish, which was immensely interesting and very useful as I'm not that familiar with the Incans. Even this part of the book was easy to read and follow and brought the final days of these people to life, which is a skill in itself and often something lacking many historical accounts. A thoroughly enjoyable read.
steelcitygator's review against another edition
2.0
Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu (and several other Inca locations that were unknown to scholarship at the time) and this is his half history, half memoir of said discovery. The first section on the history of the last Inca's is mostly good. It describes their lives in and around the Spanish colonial conquests and how they attempted to survive and utilizes a ton of primary sources relative to what was available. Some is out of date to a degree just given the age of it but it's overall still a good overview in material even if I don't find the writing all that interesting.
The second half is a mix of the discovery, excavation, and Bingham's theories on his discoveries with a larger focus on Machu Picchu. The discovery is a neat look at early 20th century Peru but I don't think it's a particularly enthralling travelogue. The excavation is a bit more interesting if you don't know how archeology in this time period worked. I have read some middle eastern memoirs on it and it's strikingly similar in a lot of the foundations but I'm always interested in seeing how these early modern archeologists went about their business.
Lastly, the Machu Picchu findings and theories. And here is the biggest issue. While his more general Inca history still has enough merit where you can read it and have a solid foundation his actual site theories are very, very wrong compared to the accepted modern interpretation. I know it's not his fault as he pioneered it and didn't have nearly a centuries worth of development to get there but, as a modern reader, few of his conclusions to the sites purpose or significance are worth knowing so it makes it less valuable to the lay reader.
In the end it's a bit too dry and out of date for me to rate higher. That said, it's still a 2* because if you take special interest in the subject of the Inca or South American archeology/pre-Columbian matters you can probably get a lot out of this. My main interests not being there it falls a bit lower on my totem poll.
The second half is a mix of the discovery, excavation, and Bingham's theories on his discoveries with a larger focus on Machu Picchu. The discovery is a neat look at early 20th century Peru but I don't think it's a particularly enthralling travelogue. The excavation is a bit more interesting if you don't know how archeology in this time period worked. I have read some middle eastern memoirs on it and it's strikingly similar in a lot of the foundations but I'm always interested in seeing how these early modern archeologists went about their business.
Lastly, the Machu Picchu findings and theories. And here is the biggest issue. While his more general Inca history still has enough merit where you can read it and have a solid foundation his actual site theories are very, very wrong compared to the accepted modern interpretation. I know it's not his fault as he pioneered it and didn't have nearly a centuries worth of development to get there but, as a modern reader, few of his conclusions to the sites purpose or significance are worth knowing so it makes it less valuable to the lay reader.
In the end it's a bit too dry and out of date for me to rate higher. That said, it's still a 2* because if you take special interest in the subject of the Inca or South American archeology/pre-Columbian matters you can probably get a lot out of this. My main interests not being there it falls a bit lower on my totem poll.
slapshottechnology's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
3.5
Had to wait until I almost the end of the story to discuss the finding of Machu Picchu. The history of the Incans and his hypothesises were good but went too far.
I did like the section on all the summaries on things like agriculture, metallurgy, etc.
I did like the section on all the summaries on things like agriculture, metallurgy, etc.
mojostdennis's review against another edition
2.0
The content was okay, but the writing was dry dry dry.