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Peru: A Cultural History
A survey of Peruvian cultural development from its Paleo-Indian beginnings to the present, depicting Peru as a developing, agrarian nation whose culture extends back to antiquity and whose capital is a technically advanced metropolis
- GenresHistory
350 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 6, 2018
"From Incas to Inca Cola"---an excellent cultural history
Peru makes few marks on the average person's mind outside Latin America. We may think of llamas, Andes, Pizarro and the conquistadores, Macchu Picchu, the pan pipes and armadillo-shell charangos played by street musicians all over North America, and maybe, in the last few years, violent Maoist guerrillas, drug gangs, and a notorious siege of the Japanese Embassy. Perhaps you have read Vargas Llosa's excellent novels. What else ? Do you recall Theodore Wilder's novel "The Bridge at San Luis Rey" ? What about Yma Sumac or von Hagen's book on the roads of the ancient Inca Empire ? I'm digging deeply now, right ? Unless you have studied a specialized version of history, or have gone in for Latin American anthropology, Peru remains on the fringe of our non-Latin American world. Perhaps you would like to know more. Perhaps you are beginning to study the area or the country. Perhaps you are just looking for a good book on a subject that has always interested you---but you didn't know where to start.
This is the place. It's always a pleasure to find a good basic book that gives you clear, well-written insights into a country or time you really knew only hazily before. That's why I was so glad to read PERU, by Dobyns and Doughty. Though I bought it back in 1983 in Australia, when the book was only seven years published, I didn't get around to reading it for many years. It is part of a series of Latin American Histories put out by Oxford University Press. The only other one I ever read, on Chile, by Brian Loveman, also stood out as excellent.
PERU gives an excellent overview of how that country's culture changed over time, from the ancient civilizations of the oases and highlands long before the Christian era, through the Inca Empire (that began just about a century before its collapse under the Spanish onslaught), to the colonial era and the end of European rule. Even though in the 19th century, the political confusion is reflected in a less Olympian overview from the authors, cultural change, as opposed to blow-by-blow political history, remains uppermost. It is always difficult to separate these culture and political history---one might quibble with the authors whether this or that was entirely necessary, but they provide a readable, interesting account (you can let some of the statistical paragraphs go unless you are collecting data). My edition of the book ends at 1975, before the return of democracy, the rise of Alan Garcia, Fujimori and Sendero Luminoso, and the subsequent fall of all three. There are many books on the Incas and the ancient Peruvian civilizations. Pizarro and the Conquest are also well-covered in literature. Overviews, to my knowledge, are scarce. Thus, while somewhat dated, PERU may be the best book in English on Peruvian cultural history as a whole. Inca Cola does not rate a mention, however, neither does Vargas Llosa.
Peru makes few marks on the average person's mind outside Latin America. We may think of llamas, Andes, Pizarro and the conquistadores, Macchu Picchu, the pan pipes and armadillo-shell charangos played by street musicians all over North America, and maybe, in the last few years, violent Maoist guerrillas, drug gangs, and a notorious siege of the Japanese Embassy. Perhaps you have read Vargas Llosa's excellent novels. What else ? Do you recall Theodore Wilder's novel "The Bridge at San Luis Rey" ? What about Yma Sumac or von Hagen's book on the roads of the ancient Inca Empire ? I'm digging deeply now, right ? Unless you have studied a specialized version of history, or have gone in for Latin American anthropology, Peru remains on the fringe of our non-Latin American world. Perhaps you would like to know more. Perhaps you are beginning to study the area or the country. Perhaps you are just looking for a good book on a subject that has always interested you---but you didn't know where to start.
This is the place. It's always a pleasure to find a good basic book that gives you clear, well-written insights into a country or time you really knew only hazily before. That's why I was so glad to read PERU, by Dobyns and Doughty. Though I bought it back in 1983 in Australia, when the book was only seven years published, I didn't get around to reading it for many years. It is part of a series of Latin American Histories put out by Oxford University Press. The only other one I ever read, on Chile, by Brian Loveman, also stood out as excellent.
PERU gives an excellent overview of how that country's culture changed over time, from the ancient civilizations of the oases and highlands long before the Christian era, through the Inca Empire (that began just about a century before its collapse under the Spanish onslaught), to the colonial era and the end of European rule. Even though in the 19th century, the political confusion is reflected in a less Olympian overview from the authors, cultural change, as opposed to blow-by-blow political history, remains uppermost. It is always difficult to separate these culture and political history---one might quibble with the authors whether this or that was entirely necessary, but they provide a readable, interesting account (you can let some of the statistical paragraphs go unless you are collecting data). My edition of the book ends at 1975, before the return of democracy, the rise of Alan Garcia, Fujimori and Sendero Luminoso, and the subsequent fall of all three. There are many books on the Incas and the ancient Peruvian civilizations. Pizarro and the Conquest are also well-covered in literature. Overviews, to my knowledge, are scarce. Thus, while somewhat dated, PERU may be the best book in English on Peruvian cultural history as a whole. Inca Cola does not rate a mention, however, neither does Vargas Llosa.
July 7, 2022
An excellent cultural history.
January 26, 2009
Clearly written, Peru: A Cultural History by Dobyns was illuminating to me. Having never studied S. America this was an excellent introductory book of Peru from the pre-Columbian era to the 1970's. Unfortunately it stopped there so I am still missing a good 30 years of history. It was a interesting read, though at times it got bogged down with economics, leading to me skipping a couple pages when it focused on naming every company that was involved with Peru. Still, an interesting read which broadened my knowledge of that nation a great deal.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews