The Discovery and Conquest of Peru

Pedro de Cieza de Leon

Feb 1999 · Duke University Press

About this ebook

Dazzled by the sight of the vast treasure of gold and silver being unloaded at Seville’s docks in 1537, a teenaged Pedro de Cieza de León vowed to join the Spanish effort in the New World, become an explorer, and write what would become the earliest historical account of the conquest of Peru. Available for the first time in English, this history of Peru is based largely on interviews with Cieza’s conquistador compatriates, as well as with Indian informants knowledgeable of the Incan past.
Alexandra Parma Cook and Noble David Cook present this recently discovered third book of a four-part chronicle that provides the most thorough and definitive record of the birth of modern Andean America. It describes with unparalleled detail the exploration of the Pacific coast of South America led by Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro, the imprisonment and death of the Inca Atahualpa, the Indian resistance, and the ultimate Spanish domination.
Students and scholars of Latin American history and conquest narratives will welcome the publication of this volume.

About the author

Pedro de Cieza de León (c. 1518–1555) was a soldier in Spain’s royal forces who recorded that country’s conquest of Peru.

Alexandra Parma Cook, an independent scholar, and Noble David Cook, Professor of History at Florida International University, are co-authors of Good Faith and Truthful Ignorance: A Case of Transatlantic Bigamy, also published by Duke University Press.

Pedro de Cieza de León (c. 1518–1555) was a soldier in Spain’s royal forces who recorded that country’s conquest of Peru.

Alexandra Parma Cook, an independent scholar, and Noble David Cook, Professor of History at Florida International University, are co-authors of Good Faith and Truthful Ignorance: A Case of Transatlantic Bigamy, also published by Duke University Press.