Cradle of Gold:The Story of Hiram Bingham, a Real-Life Indiana Jones, and the Search for Machu Picchu

Description

In 1911| a young Peruvian boy led an American explorer and Yale historian named Hiram Bingham into the ancient Incan citadel of Machu Picchu. Hidden amidst the breathtaking heights of the Andes| this settlement of temples| tombs and palaces was the Incas’ greatest achievement. Tall| handsome| and sure of his destiny| Bingham believed that Machu Picchu was the Incas’ final refuge| where they fled the Spanish Conquistadors. Bingham made Machu Picchu famous| and his dispatches from the jungle cast him as the swashbuckling hero romanticized today as a true Indiana Jones-like character. But his excavation of the site raised old specters of conquest and plunder| and met with an indigenous nationalism that changed the course of Peruvian history. Though Bingham successfully realized his dream of bringing Machu Picchu’s treasure of skulls| bones and artifacts back to the United States| conflict between Yale and Peru persists through the present day over a simple question: Who owns Inca history?
In this grand| sweeping narrative| Christopher Heaney takes the reader into the heart of Peru’s past to relive the dramatic story of the final years of the Incan empire| the exhilarating recovery of their final cities and the thought-provoking fight over their future. Drawing on original research in untapped archives| Heaney vividly portrays both a stunning landscape and the complex history of a fascinating region that continues to inspire awe and controversy today.