Book SummaryThe Last Days of the Incas, by Kim MacQuarrie

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Last Days of the Incas

The Inca Dynasty's Rise and Influence

MacQuarrie sets out to tell the gripping story of the Incan downfall after the Spanish conquest, but first gives the reader an introduction to the complex Andean civilizations that preceded the Inca, as well as a closer look at the meteoric rise of the Inca themselves. MacQuarrie emphasizes that the Inca were the most recent of a lengthy lineage of complex Andean societies that developed over thousands of years beginning around 8000 BC.

Early Civilizations and Kingdoms Before the Incan Empire

The author wants you to understand that the Inca—while a remarkable society in their own right—weren't the initial complex, highly organized culture to emerge in Peru. Long before the Inca or any other state-level society emerged, the people of the Andean and coastal regions lived as hunters and gatherers for thousands of years. Eventually, the earliest farmers arose, domesticating plants and livestock, settling in villages, and slowly increasing their population density with the passage of centuries. In about 3200 BC the first signs of large-scale, planned settlements appear, along with plazas, religious centers, and an increase in social hierarchy, as elites gained control over ever larger numbers of people.

Moche, Tiwanaku, Chimu: From Agriculture to State Societies in Present-Day Peru

MacQuarrie states that as of the first century AD, true kingdoms had formed in Peru, such as that of the Moche—an advanced culture of master ceramists who eventually constructed massive urban centers. In other parts of Peru, equally complex cultures emerged as well: the Tiwanaku, the Wari, and the Chimu. By 1400, for example, the Chimu Empire stretched close to 1,000 miles along northern Peru, controlling a vast population and an abundance of resources. Meanwhile, in the southern Cuzco valley, the Incas had a kingdom that was much less developed.

Context

• The Moche constructed monumental architecture, including the Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna, which were large adobe pyramids used for religious and ceremonial purposes.
• The Chimu language, known as Muchik, was distinct from the Quechua language spoken by the Incas.

Other Perspectives

• The term "equally complex" is subjective and can be misleading, as it suggests a level of similarity that may overlook the unique developments and achievements of each culture.
• The Inca kingdom's apparent lesser development in the Cuzco valley could be attributed to a different stage in their cultural evolution rather than an inherent lack of complexity or advancement.

The Inca Kingdom’s Expansion Under Pachacuti

The author points out that the emergence of the Incan Empire in its earliest form can be traced directly to the reign of a single, ambitious Inca king, Cusi Yupanqui. During his reign in the early 1400s, the small Inca realm, which was centered in the valley of Cuzco and which was as yet no different from other small kingdoms in the Andes, was abruptly attacked by an army from the neighboring, larger and more powerful Chanca kingdom. The ruling Inca king at the time—an old man named Viracocha Inca—fled the capital, taking refuge in a remote fortress and essentially abandoning his vulnerable realm. At precisely this moment of crisis, however, Cusi Yupanqui seized the reigns of power, rallied his own troops and those of allied ethnic groups, and then marched out to confront the invaders.

Pachacuti Overcomes the Chancas and Builds an Expansive Empire

MacQuarrie's narrative of how a minor and disunited Inca kingdom morphed practically overnight into a powerful, united empire begins with a battle against the more powerful Chancas. Against all odds, Cusi Yupanqui's troops triumphed over the significantly larger Chanca army. A situation that had previously seemed to spell imminent defeat had been converted into a dramatic victory. After overthrowing his father, he took a new name—adopting the moniker “Pachacuti,” which translates to "earthshaker" or "catastrophe." Pachacuti's new name was obviously prophetic, for he quickly initiated a program of restructuring the Inca realm, building new palaces, temples, and roads and then directing his focus—and especially that of his newly unified Inca army—to his realm’s borders. The Inca king, surely having just witnessed how close his own kingdom had come to being exterminated, realized that the best way to prevent future attacks was to create a buffer of conquered lands and to make his kingdom as large as possible. If neighboring kingdoms were eradicated, they couldn't attack anymore. Thus began a snowball effect,...

The Last Days of the Incas Summary Clash Between Spanish Conquistadors and Inca Empire

MacQuarrie emphasizes that the Inca Empire Francisco Pizarro had traveled to the Spanish crown to gain royal permission to conquer in 1528 was a very different empire from the one he would eventually begin to invade in 1532. In only four short years, the Inca kingdom—at its zenith and one of only six in the world to have developed a state-level society since the emergence of the first agriculturalists some 10,000 years earlier—had been dealt two devastating blows. It had been split in two by a vicious battle for the throne, and the emperor who Pizarro had heard about on his last trip south had died, a victim of European-introduced smallpox.

Pizarro's Appearance and Inca Internal Conflict

The author emphasizes that the Incas' “smallpox problem” of the late 1520s provided Pizarro with the same opportunity to exploit native political divisions that Hernando Cortés had effectively used in 1521 to conquer the Aztecs in Mexico. Both conquistadors originated in Extremadura, Spain, shared similar backgrounds, and pursued remarkably similar strategies. By the time Pizarro arrived that year, the two sons of the deceased emperor—Atahualpa and Huascar—had spent years fighting over the...

The Last Days of the Incas Summary Spanish Exploitation of the Inca People and Emperor Atahualpa

MacQuarrie emphasizes the key role of Pizarro—an experienced leader and seasoned fighter against the Indigenous population who had spent more than thirty years in the New World—in formulating Spanish political and military strategies. Pizarro, who embodied numerous stereotypical traits of his fellow natives of Extremadura—toughness, cunning, ambition, ruthlessness, and extreme parsimony—was also devoutly Catholic and thus had no compunction in using religion as a pretext for conquest. While serving as governor, Pizarro consistently ensured he personally profited from every decision and action. Pizarro cleverly manipulated other Spaniards—offering them rewards, titles, and a share of future spoils—in an effort to keep himself and his family in power.

Pizarro's Strategy of Using Atahualpa as a Hostage

The author recounts how Pizarro sought to control the expansive Inca realm through Manco by setting up a new empire-wide network of patronage relationships. Instead of the Inca elite being at the pinnacle of the social hierarchy and controlling the distribution of power down to the commoners, Pizarro sought to place himself and his fellow Spaniards at the apex and then to...

The Last Days of the Incas Summary Inca Resistance, Rebellion, and the Empire's Fall

MacQuarrie makes it clear that although Spain’s invasion and conquest of the Inca effectively destroyed their dominion in a matter of only a few years, the Spaniards were nevertheless always fearful of a potential native uprising. The Inca elite, after all, had once ruled a multinational empire, one that had extended for thousands of miles and included an enormous population and an army with a force of hundreds of thousands of warriors. While the Spanish captured Atahualpa, that was primarily due to their superior weaponry. Once Manco Inca replaced his murdered brother in Cuzco, however, the Spaniards realized that the vast majority of the Inca realm had never been conquered and that Inca armies—properly led—were still much larger than their own.

Manco Inca: A Puppet King

MacQuarrie makes this clear: Pizarro was not interested in sharing power with the Inca aristocracy—he merely intended to exploit the Inca ruling class to help him consolidate Spanish control of the empire. Yet, Pizarro and his officers never grasped the nature of Manco’s situation. Manco, naturally, was the legitimate Inca ruler. As such, he was a god descended from the sun and possessed an authority...

The Last Days of the Incas Summary Spanish Faction Power Struggles and Colonial Rule in Peru

MacQuarrie emphasizes that while the Spaniards were struggling to establish colonial rule in Peru after the conquest, they were equally absorbed by a variety of power struggles—struggles that eventually caused the deaths of nearly all of the original conquistadors.

Almagro's Return and Civil War Among the Spanish Factions

The author explains how the fragile political alliance that had existed between Pizarro and Almagro since their first expedition in 1524—one based upon a shared interest in conquest and plunder—erupted into civil war in 1537, after the question arose of who ruled which portion of the newly conquered empire and whether the city of Cuzco lay within Pizarro’s realm or within the jurisdiction of his one-eyed ex-partner.

Spanish Conquest Companies' Greed Led to Warfare

MacQuarrie makes the reader aware of a fundamental fact: that the "Spanish conquest" of Peru was not carried out by government armies, but by private corporations formed by conquistadors—companies that received royal charters or licenses that allowed them to attack and occupy native territories. Because the licenses themselves did not specify the precise territory of jurisdiction, and...

The Last Days of the Incas Summary Rediscovering and Exploring Inca’s “Lost Cities” Like Vilcabamba

MacQuarrie weaves his retelling of the Spanish conquest with a parallel account of how lost Inca ruins and cities were discovered in the twentieth century. Machu Picchu and Vilcabamba are the most renowned of these ruins. The author details how both were discovered, explored, and popularized in part by explorers—Hiram Bingham and Savoy—who, although widely acclaimed, were both far from ideal in their roles as scientific chroniclers of the past.

Hiram Bingham Discovered Machu Picchu

The author explains how, after receiving confirmation from a former prefect that ruins on a mountaintop called "Choqquequirau" were those of Manco’s lost city, Bingham—an assistant professor at Yale—quickly came to the conclusion that Choqquequirau could not possibly be Vilcabamba’s location; a Peruvian historian, Carlos Romero, agreed. Bingham, therefore, began to examine historical records from the 1500s, and his interest in lost Inca sites was stimulated. Three years later, Bingham led an expedition that would discover Machu Picchu and—only sixteen days later after finding that—the lost Inca cities of Vitcos and the shrine of Chuquipalpa.

How Romanticism and Amateur Archaeology Fueled...