The Second Part of the Chronicle of Peru: Volume 2

by Pedro Cieza de León, Clements Robert Markham

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. Pedro de Cierza de Leon (c.1520 1554) was a Spanish solider who participated in many expeditions throughout South America. Between 1548 and 1553 he travelled across Peru, interviewing local officials and Inca prisoners and collecting information about the landscape and indigenous people. Volumes 33 (Travels of Pedro de Cierza de Leon) and 68 of the Hakluyt series were the first English translation of his work; this, the second volume, appeared in 1883 and contains a detailed description of Inca society and the Spanish conquest of Peru."

316 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2001

About the author

Spanish conquistador and chronicler of Peru. He is known primarily for his history and description of Peru, Crónicas del Perú. He wrote this book in four parts, but only the first was published during his lifetime; the remaining sections were not published until the 19th and 20th centuries.

Reviews

[Mmonchi]

En este libro el autor cuenta la historia del imperio inca hasta la llegada de los españoles. Es un relato de primera mano de alguien que estuvo en las zonas que describe poco después de los hechos narrados, por lo que fue recopilando información de personas que los habían vivido. El lenguaje no es el de un escritor profesional sino el de alguien que quiere hacer función de notario, transmitiendo lo que ocurrió de la manera más fiel posible.
Un documento muy valioso para entender como llegaron los incas a tener un imperio tan extenso con las limitaciones que sufría: sin escritura, rueda o dinero cuesta entender los mecanismos que dieron estabilidad a un territorio tan vasto.