Understanding the recent social unrest and political developments in Peru requires a thorough understanding of the country's past

A concise guide to more than 300 trauma-related topics.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Although itis only the fourth largest country of Latin America (after Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico), Peru's half-million square miles are equivalent to the combined area of France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Superimposed upon the heartland of the United States, Peru would cover about all of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri. Noted for the splendors of its geography, its extensive mineral endowments, and the richness of its culture and history, Peru, how­ever, provides only a meager subsis­tence to most of its sixteen million in­habitants. David P. Werlich, drawing on over five thousand sources, both published and unpublished, synthesizes for the general reader and student recent schol­arship on the political, economic, so­cial, and cultural evolution of this im­portant Latin American nation. Without neglecting the country's early history, Werlich stresses modern Peru--the period since 1914--andfurnishes the first unified, in-depth accounting of the momentous post-1968 revolution under Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado. Werlich's history is a lucid introduc­tion to the entire scope of Peruvian his­tory, and will be especially welcomed by the general reader and student in­terested in the contemporary era. The extensive and comprehensive biblio­graphic essay found in the back of the book is an invaluable aid to further study.

"This latest work in the Oxford country study series on Latin America is an excellent addition to the collection. Scholars of Peru, specialists and non-specialists alike will benefit from the balanced discussion of economic, social, and political issues from the pre-Columbian period to the Fujimori administration. The 19th century and particularly the guano age and the Aristocratic Republic are given significant attention. Civil-military relations, often a somewhat neglected topic in surveys such as this, are also carefully analyzed. As with all the books in the Oxford series, this study offers a highly useful glossary, as well as maps, tables, some rare photos, and a thorough bibliography. Appropriate for classroom use"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

This is a general history of the cultures and civilizations of pre-Hispanic Peru from pre-history to the Conquest. Although archaeological excavation, together with analytical study of colonial chroniclers, began in the early part of the twentieth century, the scope of investigation has been greatly intensified over the last two decades, with spectacular results. This is the first book for the general reader and student to incorporate these fresh insights and discoveries, and is as highly readable and engaging as its penetrating and informative.

Sixteenth-century Spanish soldiers described Peru as a land filled with gold and silver, a place of untold wealth. Nineteenth-century travelers wrote of soaring Andean peaks plunging into luxuriant Amazonian canyons of orchids, pythons, and jaguars. The early-twentieth-century American adventurer Hiram Bingham told of the raging rivers and the wild jungles he traversed on his way to rediscovering the “Lost City of the Incas,” Machu Picchu. Seventy years later, news crews from ABC and CBS traveled to Peru to report on merciless terrorists, starving peasants, and Colombian drug runners in the “white gold” rush of the coca trade. As often as not, Peru has been portrayed in broad extremes: as the land of the richest treasures, the bloodiest conquest, the most poignant ballads, and the most violent revolutionaries. This revised and updated second edition of the bestselling Peru Reader offers a deeper understanding of the complex country that lies behind these claims. Unparalleled in scope, the volume covers Peru’s history from its extraordinary pre-Columbian civilizations to its citizens’ twenty-first-century struggles to achieve dignity and justice in a multicultural nation where Andean, African, Amazonian, Asian, and European traditions meet. The collection presents a vast array of essays, folklore, historical documents, poetry, songs, short stories, autobiographical accounts, and photographs. Works by contemporary Peruvian intellectuals and politicians appear alongside accounts of those whose voices are less often heard—peasants, street vendors, maids, Amazonian Indians, and African-Peruvians. Including some of the most insightful pieces of Western journalism and scholarship about Peru, the selections provide the traveler and specialist alike with a thorough introduction to the country’s astonishing past and challenging present.