Cuzco

THE ECLIPSE OF THE INCA EMPIRE... No lover of history or visitor to Cuzco will walk the ancient streets of that city or stand before the great fortress of Saqusayhuaman and see things the same way after reading how Pedro Pizarro and his native friend Quispe saw this pivotal time. This is the story of two young friends; Pedro Pizarro who follows his cousin General Francisco Pizarro on an incredible journey and Quispe who has been enticed along to act as interpreter. On the 15th of November 1533, after a heavily contested 800 mile march from Cajamarca to Cuzco, Francisco Pizarro leads 135 desperate, limping, Spanish soldiers and the newly crowned Manco Inca into the civil-war ravaged capital of an enormous Empire. The strange, hairy-faced white men are welcomed as liberators - at first. Working together, Pedro and Quispe have become a bridge between worlds, but the trials of the suddenly-elevated, very young, Manco Inca, the political infighting among the Spaniards who have come mostly for plunder, the terrors of being a soldier in such a small, beleaguered army, and their pivotal roles as interpreters, place Pedro at desperate odds with his native friend Quispe. As two streams that have diverged in the mountains, Pedro and Quispe re-connect in a turbulent ocean that crashes down upon two powerful civilizations, threatening to destroy them both. Pedro and Quispe find their personal strengths, then brief moments of peace where their lives have infinite potential, but only unimaginably dire promise, without them both continuing to work together. This incredible and fascinating 30 months of world-shaking history is detailed on a most compelling, personal scale. It is the story of two great friends and their two views of the historic events that swirled around them. Scott Bernard has a B.A. in Economics from Brown University. He is the author of the highly acclaimed novel "Cajamarca, Sons of the Sun". When not traveling, he lives in Central Massachusetts.