God, Glory and Gold: Journey to the Conquest of the Incas - The Beginning, (Paperback)

The long, improbable journey to the Conquest of the Incas is an incredible, modern story. While the Inca Empire was expanding along the Pacific coast of South America, the backward Kingdom of Castile and Leon was mired in political intrigue. This is a story of courage, luck, colossal misjudgments and soaring ambition by entrepreneurs who would lead a culture clash ending in the fall of the Inca Empire and the rise of the Spanish Empire that lasted two hundred years due to Inca treasure. Heroic figures such as Queen Isabella, Christopher Columbus, Emperor Charles V, Hernando de Soto, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, and Ponce de Leon come alive as the Castilian kingdom attempts to seize and settle the New world. In doing so, Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almalgro press against all odds to find the mysterious kingdom first called Biru. They encounter a vast, sophisticated empire crafted by iconic leaders named Pachecutec, Topa Inca and Huyana Capac. Succeeding by guile