Reading Still Matters

T he Last Days of the Incas by Kim MacQuarrie was unexpectedly fascinating!  Over the last few years, I have been working at building my knowledge of the history of the Americas, including the history of its first inhabitants as well as their struggle with European powers. And this book didn't disappoint.      The Incas were one of the great imperial powers on the South American continent. From a small territory surrounding Cusco, they exploded on a path of military conquest and imperial domination that was triggered by an attempted invasion of their heartlands.  Buy it on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/4uJhAKd      In fact, MacQuarrie's book really does a good job of establishing the history of the Incas, their culture, and their approach to maintaining power.  The Incas were ruthless, but like the Romans, they were also builders.  They used labour requirements to ensure improvements were made across the empire, important resources war...

I recently completed Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne.   This isn't a new work, originally published back in 2011 by Scribner, but it was a new to me book. One of the great things about history is that if well done, they generally have a pretty good shelf life.      And this one is well done. Gwynne is known to be one of the best popular or narrative history writers, and I enjoyed his treatment of the Commanche's and their conflicts with the European powers and the encroaching settlers immensely.   This is a compelling read that is fast moving, and sucks you in as well as any novel. Buy it on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/4e7GVac      The work covers the historic rise of the Comanche's, their origins, their move into buffalo country and adoption of a militaristic horse culture, as well as their conflicts with the Spanish and Frenc...