True Account of the Conquest of Peru

When Francisco Pizarro destroyed the empire of the Inca, he brought along a secretary. In the lull after kidnapping the Inca Atahualpa, as they waited for the tons of ransom gold to arrive, the secretary Francisco de Jerez wrote an eyewitness account of the civilization they found in Peru and Pizarro's conquest of it. The Inca's ransom made Jerez a rich man when he returned to Spain in 1534, and he was quickly able to find a publisher. This book became the most influential of all conquistador accounts of the New World, and one of the most influential of all records of the era. Clements Markham translated it into English almost 150 years ago. Astonishingly, a new English version has never appeared. Ivan R. Reyna (Spanish, U. of Missouri, Columbia), a Peruvian scholar who lives and works in the US, has stepped into the breach and issued this fine new English version. It is nicely printed in hardcover by Peter Lang. Markham's translation is generally considered solid, so Reyna has modernized it, discarding Victorianisms and preserving Markham's own introduction, a good example of a thoughtful 19th century Anglo-American imagination of the past. Reyna adds a few facsimilie pages from the original Spanish edition, and a lucid new introduction that puts the whole history of the conquest, the book, and the people involved, into focus in a fine accessible style. He knows how to create a brisk and fascinating read while offering sensible, informative comments on fiery scholarly and political debates in footnotes. This edition includes Jerez's account, a letter from Pizarro to the Royal Audience, and Pedro Sancho's notary report on the distribution of the loot. This is a vital book for both general and specialist humanities libraries to have, and will be of interest to any reader who cares about history, archeology, anthropology, military matters, political science, or Latin American studies. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

A native of Lima, Peru, Ivan R. Reyna received his PhD in Hispanic languages and literatures from the University of California, Berkeley, and his JD from the Universidad San Martin de Porras-Lima, Peru. His teaching and research interests include colonial Spanish American literature as well as Andean literature, historiography, and culture. Reyna is the author of El Encuentro de Cajamarca (2010). He is currently Associate Professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Missouri, Columbia.