Lima: A Cultural History (Cityscapes)

Product is described accurately and vendor service was very good.

I highly recommend this book if you're traveling to Peru and would like to know about Lima's history, treasures, problems. It's very useful for people doing Latin American studies.

Excellent & quick!

However I would qualify that in saying the book is more for a resident than a tourist, as it's not much of a travel guide. The depth of history and information is probably too much for a casual visitor, while the breadth of things to do on a short stay is narrow. However for those living in Lima, the book offers an unequaled look into the capital’s history and evolution from an academic who has devoted his life to studying Peru.The book is divided into five parts – an introduction, pre-Columbian cultures, the colonial era, the republican era and the modern age. The book triumphs in the areas of history, literature and architecture. Given author James Higgins is a professor of literature, the book’s coverage of novels and poetry is especially thorough. You can’t get through a few pages without some obscure passage which are great sources for students of Peru, and the end of the book features a four-page “Further Reading” list with a good number of English-language titles for those who don’t read in Spanish.This is the most indepth book out there on Lima's culture, but tourists or professionals on short-term assignments may want to stick with something more pedestrian like  Lima Travel Guide: Insider Advice from Expats in Peru .

James Higgins describes the "mysterious city," of Lima with such great expertise that even frequent visitors of Lima will benefit from this new Oxford University Press publication. On that note...if you are going to Lima for the first time, certainly do yourself the favor and buy this book.This is a five part book. Part One is short (14 pages), introduces Lima's setting, climate, history, power struggles, painful independence and modernization and change. Part Two is super short (7 pages) and reviews the pre-history of Lima. Part Three and Four is the meat of the book and provides an extensive guide to practically everything of historical importance to Lima. Finally, Part Five covers the expanding metropolis and ends with a passage on the future.James Higgins is a master of Lima's history, architecture, literature, painting and music. Moreover, the author includes outstanding drawings, a list of further reading (on pgs. 232 -235), plus a highly organized index of literary and historical names as well as a detailed index of places. This book is mandatory reading for the serious visitors of Lima. Highly recommended.Bert Ruiz