Delving Deeper

Recommended reading for a better understanding of Peru

• Lima……
• What Makes the Limeño Tick
• Summer in February

The Peru Reader (History, Culture, Politics) is an excellent anthology, ideal for those who want to gain a deeper understanding of the country. Ideal for newcomers and ‘old hands’ alike.  Essays, folklore, historical documents, poetry, song, short stories, autobiographical accounts and photographs. Edited by Orin Starn, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Duke University; Carlos Ivan Degregori, of the Institute of Peruvian Studies (IEP); and Robin Kirk, research associate at Human Rights Watch-Americas and a contributing journalist to The Boston Globe, Ms., The Nation, and other periodicals. Duke University Press November 2005.

Peru Beyond Machu Picchu (Its People, Its Problems, Its Possibilities), by Kurt Schultze-Rhonhof, is a unique mix of serious analysis, light-hearted anecdote and personal observation. Born in Peru of German parents, the author has worked in Peru for more than 40 years as a leading businessman in the mining industry. Ideal reading for foreign visitors and recent arrivals who wish to scratch beneath the surface. Published in Lima and available at local bookstores, and through the Peruvian Timesbookshop.

The Fujimori Legacy – The Rise of Electoral Authoritarianism in Peru

Edited by Julio F. Carrion, associate professor at the University of Delaware, who contributed with 12 other well-known Peruvianists, including Maxwell Cameron, Cynthia McClintock, David Scott Palmer, Kurt Weyland, and Carol Wise. Penn State University Press, January 2006.  Says Pedro Pablo Kucynski, Peruvian Prime Minister to 2006, “..The Fujimori Legacy is an exhaustive and entertaining analysis of the Fujimori years that focuses as much on the economic and political aspects of his presidency as the sociological and cultural. The thirteen authors, all from universities in the United State and Canada, know Peru well and have ample experience, primarily academic, with our country.”

Peru: Society and Nationhood in the Andes by Peter F. Klaren. (Oxford University Press, 1999). The author, professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University, explores the country’s long history, with particular emphasis on social and economic issues. The book’s underlying theme is the struggle, in both its ethnic and class dimensions, between Hispanic elites and indigenous masses over power and inclusion.

The Conquest of the Incas,by John Hemming, is a classic masterpiece with rich detail and insights. The New Yorker reviewer said “Excellent…. Sharply and tautly written. Extraordinary.” Read this book before reading anything else on the subject.

The Last Days of the Incas, by Kim MacQuarrie. A fascinating story of the different accounts written about the fall in the 16th century, as well as chapters on 20th century explorers and archaeologists who have unearthed more details. (Simon & Schuster, 2008).

The Incas and Their Ancestors : The Archaeology of Peru by Michael E. Moseley (Thames & Hudson, 2001). The saga of the Incas and the prehistoric Andean culture on which they built, by an archaeologist with 40+ years work in Peru.

History of the Inca Realm by Maria Rostworowski (Cambridge University Press, 1998) – One of Peru’s foremost historians carefully researched historical archives to produce a wide and groundbreaking vision into the Inca Empire. She has written a number of books on pre-Hispanic Peru, published in Spanish by the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos.

The Men of Cajamarca: A Social and Biographical Study of the First Conquerors of Peru, is an interesting study by James Lockhart of the arrival of Pizarro and 168 Spaniards in 1532, when they capture the emperor of the Incas and radically altered the course of history both in the new World and in Europe. Lockhart focuses on the lives of these specific Spaniards in his study. University of Texas Press, Austin, 1972.

Conversation in the Catedral, depicting life in Lima during the political regime of the 1950s, Pantaleón and the Visitors, and The War of the End of the World based in Brazil, are among the many titles by Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, Peru’s best known novelist. A number of the books are available in English in Lima at the Ibero bookstores (two are at opposite ends of the Miraflores Park, on Av. Larco and on Av. Diagonal).

Magnificent Field of Enterprise – Britons in Peru 1815-1915 by Arthur R.B.Robinson, is the story of the first British trade interests in Peru, following on British soldiers who joined the forces of independence, and the influential English-speaking community that grew out of these interests, including the Anglo-American ‘Lima Protestant Church’ started in 1849, whose records tell much about the community. Available in Lima through the Peruvian Times bookshop.

Shining Path – Terror & Revolution in Peruby British journalist Simon Strong, who worked in Peru from 1988 to 1992. The origins and workings of the terrorist group to the capture more than a decade later of its leader Abimael Guzman in September 1992. Times Books, New York, 1992.

The Shining Path: A History of the Millenium War in Peru by Peruvian journalist Gustavo Gorriti, translated by Robin Kirk, digs into the origins of Abimael Guzman’s leadership and the terrorist group he formed. Goritti covers the period from the start of the conflict to the point where the Peruvian national police – who initially were the ones charged with bringing the uprising under control – were replaced by the military in 1981. It is a unique look at the situation as it emerged.

The Shining Path of Peru – edited by David Scott Palmer, St. Martin’s Press, NY. 1994.

An outstanding collection of articles on the movement that the editor describes as “the most radical expression of Marxist revolution in the Hemisphere.” David Scott Palmer is a long-time specialist on Peru and Latin American studies, and professor of political science and international relations at Boston University.