Reviews (1)

Thirteen Emperors
During the lifetime of one of the last of the 13 Inca emperors who controlled parts of western coastal South America between 1200 and 1532, a girl now called Juanita summited Mt Ampato. In the ending months of 1995, nearby volcanic ash melted mountain top ice and snow, putting this mummified ICE MAIDEN OF THE ANDES in the path of mountain explorers Johan Reinhard and Miguel Zarate. The author gives an idea of how difficult high altitude archaeology can be and of how Latin American mummies such as Juanita, El Plomo and Sarita can answer scientific questions, such as verifying that the wart virus existed in the pre-Columbian western hemisphere. So Janet Buell's book reads well with David Getz's FROZEN GIRL, Nova's ICE MUMMIES: FROZEN IN HEAVEN video, Dr Reinhard's DISCOVERING THE INCA ICE MAIDEN, and Susan Vande Griek's A GIFT FOR AMPATO. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Actually, a very good book
I looked at emcall's review, so I bought all the ones he mentions that were available new or used. Not only do I disagree that the other ones are any better, but I also disagree this book is full of innacuracies. There might be some. I did not see any. He surely does not spell out the ones he saw, so I do not trust his assesment. Perhaps he is so biases toward our beautiful little country that he cannot accept seeing a car with a little rust in page 63. Every page and picture (and there are tons of them) reminds me of all the color and character of my dear Uruguay. This book is a great book to have at home.

Unevenly written, lots of inaccuracies
I awaited the publication of this book with much anticipation. I am Uruguayan and when my American friends ask me about my country I am always delighted to talk about it and tell them about the books on Uruguay that are available in English.

When I read this book I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It is full of mistakes of every kind. Some are obvious typographical errors, some are misspellings (words given in Spanish are misspelled, misinterpreted, or mistranslated). There are cases of photographs that have the wrong caption. There are contradictions in the text. Some historical facts are wrong. There are gross misrepresentations of what Uruguay is about. The names of people, animals, places, and things are wrong in many instances. There are some important omissions. The two recipes given at the end are simply laughable. The bibliography given is extremely scant. The book is full of blunders ("disparates," "ridiculeces," "barbaridades," "barrabasadas," and plain old "bolazos," as we say in Uruguay) that detract from otherwise well written and informative segments.

This book so disappointed me that I cannot possibly recommend it to anybody. If anyone wants to know something about Uruguay I suggest you ignore this book. I would recommend (in chronological order): Marion Morrison's "Uruguay (Enchantment of the World)" (1992); Nathan Haverstock's "Uruguay in Pictures (Visual Geography Series)" (1987); Allan Carpenter's "Uruguay (Enchantment of South America)" (1969); and Lavinia Dobler's "The Land and People of Uruguay" (1965). None of these books is perfect. They all contain some mistakes, but the information in them is, for the most part, accurate. The Morrison and the Haverstock books are still available. The two older titles are occasionally available as used books.

One title that I highly recommend is Tessa Bridal's "The Tree of Red Stars." It is a novel that takes place in Uruguay. (It is not intended for children.) The author is Uruguayan, so she knows what she is saying when she writes about Uruguay. Bridal's book contains the best depiction of life in Uruguay I have ever read in English. ... Read more