The Inca Empire: An Enthralling Overview of the Incas, Their Civilization in Ancient Peru, and the Spanish Conquest

by Billy Wellman

Did you know that the Incas worshiped the mummies of their emperors?

For the Incas, death didn’t exist; it simply took the dead to a different plane of life. So, the mummies of their emperors were treated as people; they were given food and drink and even visited each other ceremoniously. They also owned country estates, which generated enough profits to keep them in the style to which they were accustomed.

This might sound like a curiosity, but this form of ancestor worship was central to the Inca culture and to the history of the Inca Empire, which stretched from Ecuador and Colombia in the north to Chile in the south.

Everyone has seen pictures of one of the Incas’ greatest the mountain-top wonder of Machu Picchu. But Inca history has always been told by the Spanish colonizers who conquered them since the Inca had no formal writing. Now, archaeology is giving us more information on how the Inca really lived, helping us differentiate real history from myth and propaganda.

In this book, you will discover how the Inca created an expansive empire in just a century and why that civilization crumbled so fast once the Spanish arrived.

You’ll also discover the How the Inca civilization developed out of a number of preceding cultures in the Andes and Peruvian coast;How quickly the Incas were able to expand and why they needed to;How the empire was administered and how runners were able to take messages from one end of it to the other with remarkable speed;The amazing Inca infrastructure program, which included building roads through mountain ranges and across raging rivers;Why Inca cuisine included tasty guinea pigs and llama jerky;Why there were never more than a few thousand actual Inca in the Inca Empire;The religion and beliefs of the Inca and how they developed over time to support the empire’s mission;How just a couple of hundred Spanish adventurers managed to conquer and subdue the Inca Empire;How much Inca culture is left in Peru and Bolivia today;And so much more!
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Genres: History, Nonfiction

120 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 14, 2023

Reviews

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this really interesting, especially as the Inca Empire isn't an area of history that I've been particularly interested in before.

The information was easy to follow and wasn't swamped with overly scholarly opinions. It gave me just enough to possibly encourage further research into this area of history in future.

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HRCYED2: Around The World

[Nick McAfee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A VERY brief overview that serves as a basic introduction to the Incan Empire with a combination of historic, archaeological, and anthropology informed narratives. Very quick read, but leaves the reader fairly devoid of any deeper understanding. However, this nevertheless serves as a jumping point to kickstart further interest in reading/researching the Inca in more detailed sources.

[Randall Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concise history of the Incas, their origins, social and political organization, culture, diet, social mores, etc.

Not previously familiar with this Enthralling History series but will seek out other volumes given how quick and informative a read this book was.

[Debbie Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I found the facts to be interesting and an encouragement to learn more about the Incas.

[Cassandra Leibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief overview of Incan history, he does site some sources, I'm sure, would be great as well. This was a good introduction, and I learned some new information .

[Challia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is split into three sections. I really enjoyed the first two; they were clear, informative, and gave great insight into how the Inca Empire developed and functioned. I learned about the earlier cultures that came before the Incas, the quipu (a knot-based system they used for data tracking..basically ancient software!), and Quechua, the language still spoken in Peru today.

The last section on the Spanish conquest was harder to follow since it packed in so many names and events. Still, the book gave me a solid appreciation for how organized and advanced the Incas were in their time.