Turn Right at Machu Picchu

Although Adams was an editor of adventure travel magazines (Outside and National Geographic Adventure), by his own admission he last slept in a tent as a teenager in his parents' yard. In this narrative of his trek through the Peruvian highlands and tropical forests he shares three stories. He writes of the Incas' encounter with the conquistadors and the ultimate collapse of their empire in 1572. The second arc is that of the Yale explorer Hiram Bingham III and his three expeditions in the early 20th century to Peru in search of the lost city of Vilcabamba—the last jungle capital of the rebel Inca state. The last, but certainly not least, is Adams's account of his own trip and the intrepid Australian guide and Peruvian handlers who got him safely to Machu Picchu and back. VERDICT This delightful travelog is reminiscent of Hugh Thomson's The White Rock and Tahir Shah's Trail of Feathers. Adams, both funny and insightful, is intrigued by Machu Picchu without seeming New Agey, and the characters he introduces are compelling. Recommended for adventurers and armchair travelers alike. [See Prepub Alert, 1/3/11.]—Lee Arnold, Historical Soc. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia