History of the Inca Realm

This classic work of ethnohistorical research has been both influential and provocative in the field of Andean prehistory.

Maria Rostworowski de Diez Canseco (Author), Harry B. Iceland (Translated by)

9780521637596, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 November 1998

272 pages, 21 b/w illus. 3 maps 1 table
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.8 cm, 0.38 kg

"This is a masterful work, which presents the most complete single volume treatment of the Incas available in English." Bulletin of The Society of Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies

History of the Inca Realm, by Maria Rostworowski de Diez Canseco, is a classic work of ethnohistorical research which has been both influential and provocative in the field of Andean prehistory. Rostworowski uses a great variety of published and unpublished documents and secondary works by Latin American, North American, and European scholars in fields including history, ethnology, archaeology, and ecology, to examine topics such as the mythical origins of the Incas, the expansion of the Inca state, the organization of Inca society, including the political role of women, the vast trading networks of the coastal merchants, and the causes of the disintegration of the Inca state in the face of a small force of Spaniards. At each step, Dr Rostworowski presents her own views, clearly and forcefully, along with those of other scholars, providing her readers with varied evidence from which to draw their own conclusions.

Preface
Part I. Rise and Apogee of the State: 1. Primitive Cusco
2. The beginnings of Inca expansion
3. Expansion and development
Part II. Organisational Aspects: 4. The social structure of the Inca realm
5. The economic wealth of the Inca realm
6. Economic models
Final reflections
Glossary
Documents and abbreviations cited
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], History of the Americas [HBJK]