Cut Stones and Crossroads: A Journey in the Two Worlds of Peru

Travelling through Peru, tracing the history of the Incas from their royal cities of Cusco & Machu Picchu to their mythic origin in Lake Titicaca, Ronald Wright explores a land of contrasts – between Spanish & Indigenous, past & present, coastal desert & snow-crowned Andes.Yet Wright is equally interested in the chance encounters of the road. With admiration, humour & a wry anger, he brings to life the complex culture of an ancient land seeking its place in the modern world.Honours:A New York Times Notable BookEditor’s Choice: Christian Science MonitorReviews:“There is so much to praise about this excellent book.”— Washington Post“Ronald Wright is a superb travel writer with a vivid historical imagination... [He] describes ‘the two worlds of Peru’ with vigour, enthusiasm, affection & a sad, controlled anger.”— Dervla Murphy, Times Literary Supplement“Wright is an acute & indefatigable observer, bound to be compared with Peter Matthiessen & Paul Theroux.”— Los Angeles Times“A model of informed & enthralling travel writing...There will be few better books about Peru.”— John Keay, The Listener“Wright expertly outlines the politics & culture of a nation struggling to come to terms with the abrupt collapse of one world & the fitful emergence of the next.”— Globe & Mail“A marvelous mixture of science & color reporting, antiquities & contemporary politics.”— Christian Science Monitor Ronald Wright's journey through Peru is simultaneously an account of the country's proud Inca heritage and of the modern mestizo nation – its two worlds. Beginning in Cajamarca, where Spain first defeated the Inca army, Wright traces the indigenous history back to its mythic origins at Lake Titicaca. Yet Wright is equally interested in the chance encounters of the road – the music of everyday – and above all in the realities of life for the native Runa Indians. Moving between desert and mountain, Spanish and Indian, he explores the place of their ancient traditions in today's Peru with admiration and anger. Ronald Wright has created the best travel book about Peru, for he has immersed himself in the music and language, as well as the history, politics and monuments of the indigenous Andean cultures of South America, in a way that no other travel writer has yet managed.