Inca Apocalypse

The Spanish Conquest and the Transformation of the Andean World

By: R. Alan Covey

Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann

Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Previous accounts of the fall of the Inca empire have played up the importance of the events of one violent day in November 1532 at the highland Andean town of Cajamarca. To some, the "Cajamarca miracle" - in which Francisco Pizarro and a small contingent of Spaniards captured an Inca who led an army numbering in the tens of thousands - demonstrated the intervention of divine providence. To others, the outcome was simply the result of European technological and immunological superiority.

Inca Apocalypse develops a new perspective on the Spanish invasion and transformation of the Inca realm. R. Alan Covey's sweeping narrative traces the origins of the Inca and Spanish empires, identifying how Andean and Iberian beliefs about the world's end shaped the collision of the two civilizations. Rather than a decisive victory on the field at Cajamarca, the Spanish conquest was an uncertain, disruptive process that reshaped the worldviews of those on each side of the conflict. The survivors built colonial Peru, a new society that never forgot the Inca imperial legacy or the enduring supernatural power of the Andean landscape.

Covey's rich new history, based on the latest archaeological and historical evidence, illuminates mysteries that still surround the last days of the largest empire in the pre-Colombian Americas.

©2020 Oxford University Press (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

amazing

this was a very good book I very much enjoyed and I think that you will too

Cultural Point of View

The best thing about this book is that it really lays out in great detail the cultural perception of both the Inca and the Spanish, which shaped the way they approached the conquest and colonization of the Andes. However, because of this focus, there is only a brief account of some of the major historical events that shaped the conquest.

A Comparison

I listened to Kim MacQuarrie's Last Days of the Incas a few years ago. And that book was one of my favorite books of all time. Still is. And I was kind of reluctant to start another book about the Incas because that book was so comprehensive and all encompassing. That book made you feel like you were there as it happened. I started Inca Apocalypse after putting it off for a while. Inca Apocalypse is a good book. Not 'as good' as Last Days of the Incas. But Inca Apocalypse does go into a lot more history before the conquest, political/church history in Spain, it also explains a lot more of the motivations of the Spanish Crown about what they desired to be done for/to the Incas. It's interesting to get a little wider picture from listening/reading to both books (Last Days is still my favorite of the two). Inca Apocalypse is definitely worth your time if you're interested in the Inca Empire "Tawantinsuyu". I can't really say which of the two books would be better to start with if you haven't heard either book. I would also add Buddy Levy's "River of Darkness" would be a good followup after listening to either/both of these Inca books. Because Gonzalo Pizarro who plays a pivotal role in both books also is a main character in River of Darkness about Orellana's trip into the Amazon. Inca Apocalypse is worth your time though and a great book on its own merit. Very informative. The parts about the Catholic church were dry to me but that was always going to appeal to me less.

factually wrong

The author screws up well-known historical facts, such as the identity and birthplace of Pope Alexander VI (the first Borgia Pope). Who knows what else is wrong in this book?!