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Incas and Other Men
George Woodcock and his wife recently visited Peru with the intention of exploring the country and its characteristic life bu the means available to ordinary Peruvian people. By bus and truck, by trains that climbed more than 15,000 feet over the Andean passes and by planes that flew even higher over the mountain crests, they journeyed for four thousand miles through the coastal desert, over the high tablelands of the Sierra, and down into the jungles that over the eastern slopes of the Andes.
- GenresTravel
268 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
7 people want to read
About the author
George Woodcock
188 books46 followersWoodcock was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but moved with his parents to England at an early age, attending Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow and Morley College. Though his family was quite poor, Woodcock had the opportunity to go to Oxford University on a partial scholarship; however, he turned down the chance because he would have had to become a member of the clergy.Instead, he took a job as a clerk at the Great Western Railway and it was there that he first became interested in anarchism (specifically libertarian socialism). He was to remain an anarchist for the rest of his life, writing several books on the subject.
It was during these years that he met several prominent literary figures, including T. S. Eliot and Aldous Huxley and became good friends with George Orwell despite ideological disagreements. Woodcock later wrote The Crystal Spirit (1966), a critical study of Orwell and his work which won a Governor General's Award.
Woodcock spent World War II working on a farm, as a conscientious objector. At Camp Angel in Oregon, a camp for conscientious objectors, he was a founder of the Untide Press, which sought to bring poetry to the public in an inexpensive but attractive format. Following the war, he returned to Canada, eventually settling in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1955, he took a post in the English department of the University of British Columbia, where he stayed until the 1970s. Around this time he started to write more prolifically, producing several travel books and collections of poetry, as well as the works on anarchism for which he is best known.
Towards the end of his life, Woodcock became increasingly interested in what he saw as the plight of Tibetans. He travelled to India, studied Buddhism, became friends with the Dalai Lama and established the Tibetan Refugee Aid Society. He and his wife Inge also established Canada India Village Aid, which sponsors self-help projects in rural India. Both organizations exemplify Woodcock's ideal of voluntary cooperation between peoples across national boundaries.
George and Inge also established a program to support professional Canadian writers. The Woodcock Fund, which began in 1989, provides financial assistance to writers in mid-book-project who face an unforeseen financial need that threatens the completion of their book. The Fund is available to writers of fiction, creative non-fiction, plays, and poetry. The Woodcocks helped create an endowment for the program in excess of two million dollars. The Woodcock Fund program is administered by the Writers’ Trust of Canada and has distributed $887,273 to 180 Canadian writers, as of March 2012.
It was during these years that he met several prominent literary figures, including T. S. Eliot and Aldous Huxley and became good friends with George Orwell despite ideological disagreements. Woodcock later wrote The Crystal Spirit (1966), a critical study of Orwell and his work which won a Governor General's Award.
Woodcock spent World War II working on a farm, as a conscientious objector. At Camp Angel in Oregon, a camp for conscientious objectors, he was a founder of the Untide Press, which sought to bring poetry to the public in an inexpensive but attractive format. Following the war, he returned to Canada, eventually settling in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1955, he took a post in the English department of the University of British Columbia, where he stayed until the 1970s. Around this time he started to write more prolifically, producing several travel books and collections of poetry, as well as the works on anarchism for which he is best known.
Towards the end of his life, Woodcock became increasingly interested in what he saw as the plight of Tibetans. He travelled to India, studied Buddhism, became friends with the Dalai Lama and established the Tibetan Refugee Aid Society. He and his wife Inge also established Canada India Village Aid, which sponsors self-help projects in rural India. Both organizations exemplify Woodcock's ideal of voluntary cooperation between peoples across national boundaries.
George and Inge also established a program to support professional Canadian writers. The Woodcock Fund, which began in 1989, provides financial assistance to writers in mid-book-project who face an unforeseen financial need that threatens the completion of their book. The Fund is available to writers of fiction, creative non-fiction, plays, and poetry. The Woodcocks helped create an endowment for the program in excess of two million dollars. The Woodcock Fund program is administered by the Writers’ Trust of Canada and has distributed $887,273 to 180 Canadian writers, as of March 2012.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 1, 2026
In the summer of 1956, a Canadian professor named George Woodcock spent six plus weeks with his wife traveling in Peru. This was at time when tourist services did not, for the most part, exist. There were classy "Government Hotels" in many cities, the only other alternative being dives of various descriptions. His book, Incas and Other Men, gave me mthe impression that, seventy years ago there weren't many detailed guidebooks.
On the plus side, there were more railroads than there are now, but the roads -- especially through the mountains -- verged on the unspeakable. In my 2014 trip to Peru, I took mostly trains and planes; but by then there were many excellent hotels throughout the country, even in many out-of-the-way places.
In the Peruvian destinations both Woodcock and I visited, I wound up seeing more sights than Woodcock did. In many places, such as Paracas, Nazca, and Huaraz, he didn't even get off the bus, And, toward the end of the trip, his wife Inge came down with a serious infection.
Fortunately, Woodcock was an observant traveler who did a good job of describing the places he visited and the people with whom he talked. This book is highly recommended for a "then and now" analysis of Peru and its travel riches.
On the plus side, there were more railroads than there are now, but the roads -- especially through the mountains -- verged on the unspeakable. In my 2014 trip to Peru, I took mostly trains and planes; but by then there were many excellent hotels throughout the country, even in many out-of-the-way places.
In the Peruvian destinations both Woodcock and I visited, I wound up seeing more sights than Woodcock did. In many places, such as Paracas, Nazca, and Huaraz, he didn't even get off the bus, And, toward the end of the trip, his wife Inge came down with a serious infection.
Fortunately, Woodcock was an observant traveler who did a good job of describing the places he visited and the people with whom he talked. This book is highly recommended for a "then and now" analysis of Peru and its travel riches.
Displaying 1 of 1 review