Peru - Travel Books

Travel Literature

The White Rock, by Hugh Thomson, describes an explorer's search for Inca archaeological sites throughout the Peruvian Andes, ending at Machu Picchu. It includes a lot of background about earlier travelers and explorers.

Trail of Feathers, by Tahir Shah, seeks to uncover what lies behind the 'birdmen' legends in the Peruvian desert, eventually leading the author into the remote Amazon. It's an amusing, insightful look into Peruvian culture, beliefs and peoples.

Inca-Kola, by Matthew Parris, is a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek account of the backpacking author's travels in Peru.

At Play in the Fields of the Lord, by Peter Matthiessen, is a classic, superb and believable novel about the conflict between the forces of 'development' and indigenous peoples.

Running the Amazon, by Joe Kane, provides an exciting and insightful personal account of an expedition from the source of the Amazon (high in the Peruvian Andes) to the Atlantic. Much of the action takes place in Peru.

Touching the Void, by Joe Simpson, a harrowing account of surviving a terrifying mountaineering accident in Peru's Cordillera Huayhuash, was also made into a feature film.

The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics, edited by Orin Starn, Carlos Ivan Degregori and Robin Kirk, contains essays, poems, short stories and autobiographies in a wide-ranging look at everything from the conquest of the Incas to cocaine production, guerrilla warfare and gay activism.

Horrible Histories: The Incredible Incas, by Terry Deary, is a great book for primary-school-age children, with some meaty history mingled with the juicy bits.