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Although this book is listed in the section for travel books, it actually covers a lot more ground than that may suggest. It is the story of the discovery of ancient remains in Peru and the expedition that took place to that end and as such combines travel through the modern country, exploration of the mountains, archaeology of the ruins found and a background history that helps tie the finds with past events. The book was published in this form in 1951 but follows an expedition that took place in 1911 and as such is even of interest to those who like to chart the changing face of exploration and archaeological techniques. Hiram Bingham was an American academic with an adventurous nature and in his efforts to become an explorer managed to persuade National geographic magazine to sponsor an expedition to find lost Inca remains high in the Andes, this book, now regarded as a classic, is the journal of that expedition.

As I said in the opening fragment of this review, the book goes beyond a simple record of the journey that he undertook and the first section of this book is actually a history of the Incas. This section serves as useful guide to what Bingham was searching for and how it fits into the history of South America. After covering some general information regarding the nature of the civilization in question, building techniques, agriculture, language and the like, it then goes on to the specific history of the area in question. Bingham was looking for a place called Vilcabamba, an Inca stronghold known to be high in the mountains but its actual location lost to history. The place was important in the dying months of the Inca Empire as the Spanish conquistadors ravaged, bribed and bullied their way across the map; Vilcabamba was a hidden fortress that never fell to the invaders. If located who knows what would be found there?

The second section of the book is the story of Bingham's actual journey through this mountainous land. The politics and diplomacy of the adventure, the culture and customs that he encountered as well as a detailed record of this passage through this land that seemed not yet to have entered the modern age. Whilst looking for the Inca of 500 years ago he was aware that their modern day descendants surrounded him. As they travelled up into the mountains Inca sites began to appear but it was not until they clambered their way to the almost impossible peak that the most majestic of sites was found. Looking for a small Inca fortress initially,

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