The Modern Scholar

The Incas: Inside an American Empire

By: Professor Terence N. D'Altroy

Narrated by: Terence N. D'Altroy

In the land of Tawantinsuyu (The Four Parts Together) the Incas reigned in the late 15th century over the greatest empire ever seen in the independent Americas. Their territory included parts of the present-day countries of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Yet we know little of these people, especially from firsthand written accounts.

This course introduces the Incas, a small ethnic group from the southern Peruvian highlands, who forged a civilization rich in material and culture and expanded their domain to control large expanses of territory in a short period of time through diplomacy, enculturation, and military force.

A Powerful Story and a Potent Legacy

The story of the Incas is a powerful one, and their legacy remains a potent influence in the Andes of South America. In this insightful lecture series, Columbia University professor Terence D'Altroy focuses on Inca life at the height of the empire, the society's origins, its military, religion, ruling structure, and finally, the Inca legacy today.

©2004 Terence N. D'Altroy (P)2004 Recorded Books

ok, but a bit too didactic

This is more a book addressed to students that need to learn about the different aspects of the Incas civilization for a specific exam, than to "average Joe" interested to learn about the history of a great civilization in all its vibrant aspects . The clash with the Spaniards and the end of the Incas empire is dealt quickly in the last chapter , almost as it was an addendum to the details of the religious ceremonials or of the variety of the Incas pottery.
The recording (and at times the reading) of prof D'Altroy is at times poor ; not a big deal, but gives a sense of sloppiness

Interesting topic told in a less interesting way

Some parts were very interesting, other parts were told in a way that made it difficult to follow. There are also 2 or 3 mistakes in cutting of the audio book, which do not make the material unintelligible, but still, shouldn't be there.
All in all, it's not a bad audio book, but there are better pieces from Modern Scholar.

Some editing hiccups

The lectures were interesting and well-presented. However, there were a couple of places where there seemed to be an editing problem and almost the same thing was said twice in a row.

Ok

This was fine as an introduction, but there was very little discussion of differing theories or interesting stories.

When to hire a professional Narrator 101

The author’s knowledge of ancient Inca culture is most impressive but he fails to deliver it - in an interesting manner – to his audience. Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs for example, was written and presented extremely well by Barbara Mertz and Lorna Raver respectively. This audio book was extremely difficult to listen to and there were moments where I literally dreaded to switch it on. A note to Modern Scholar – Please hire professional narrators!

I was planning to travel to Peru this year but have postponed it in favour of Greece. The reason being that this audio book has put me off Peru and I need time for it to be diluted from my memory. Machu Picchu, don’t go anywhere.