I bought this book to learn more about the Andean textiles I began collecting while working in Peru and Bolivia. The photos are beautiful and the info is pretty good-good for a beginner but probably not as helpful for a collector with more expertise. There are not many books on this subject and I'm interested to know if anyone has found a better one.

This is an exhibition catalogue on pre-Columbian textiles held at the Bruce Museum of Arts in 1999/2000. It's not a large book with only 44 pages. It does however have some beautiful illustrations (it's all in color)and examples of pre-Columbian textile work in the Andes. The work covers most of the different cultures that flourished in the Andes up to and prior to the Inca. There is also weaving and featherwork on featherwork on display. A slim, but very nice book with a good selection of items. This book is heavy on illustrations, light on text, but each section has a nice succinct introduction to the culture of the items being illustrated.

Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark is a marvelous children's novel which can be very important reading for children. The beautiful novel certainly earned its Newbery Medal.

The novel is the story of Cusi. He is an Inca boy who has been raised in a remote valley of the Andes mountain range by an old man, Chuto. Cusi is of royal Inca blood, but this is four hundred years after the Spanish conquest. Cusi has been raised in the traditional Inca manner. The plot of the novel concerns Cusi's search for himself. He has been raised without a "family" (at least in the traditional sense), and he is sent from the valley, with the companionship of his pet llama, to find his path in the world, a task that he sees as finding himself a family. The world Cusi goes into is one which is very different from the one he has been raised in because the Spanish culture has become predominant. Then, Cusi is forced to come to terms with his own way of life and with what his concept of "family" should be.

Secret of the Andes is an amazing book. I think that it can be extremely important in helping children to understand the view-point of Native Americans and helping them to understand Native American literature later in life. I also found that this novel was, in ways, similar to adult novels like Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. It aids in this understanding through a fairly simple story of a young, regular boy who can be related to. Ann Nolan Clark really created a masterpiece with Secret of the Andes.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be part of an ancient culture? Well here is your chance! "Secret of the Andes" is a excellent book to read if you have ever asked yourself this question. This book is about a young Incan boy, by the name of Cusi, who lives high in the Andes of South America. He is a llama herder, a noble and very common occupation where he lives. His keeper is a man by the name of Chuto, a secretive and mysterious man. The one thing Cusi wants in his life is a family. One day his llama guides him to a temple, there Cusi finds something very peciular....
This book was written for twelve to thirteen year olds. It contains emotional struggles that anyone younger would'nt be able to grasp.
One main topic of this story was that of family. The one thing Cusi ever wanted was a family. The only family he had ever known. One day a family moves into the valley below. After seeing this he deides that one day he will go in search of his own family.
Another topic is culture. One day Cusi finds out that he is the last of a long line of Incan royalty.
"Secret of the Andes" is a good book for anyone who enjoys reading about far off places and different cultures.

Ann Nolan Clark's perception of places and people, and her respect for other cultures, comes through clearly in this short novel of traditions and changes in Peru.

Far ahead of today's push for diversity in school books, the book explores life themes such as the importance of family, traditions, caring for others, respecting elders, etc. Ann's genius is that she sets these themes inside the larger theme of life choices for a young boy, in a different land.

I started reading it aloud on a camping trip, the voices of the Peruvian past with its unique scents and sounds filling the tent and delighting all who listened, from the very young to the "oldsters" in the group. It is Ann's rich command of language that sets the tone of the book. It is her knowledge of the People that enriches the story. It is her striving to make the book culturally rich as well as challenging that keeps the reader (or listeners) engaged. I wish we had more books like this one in our school and home libraries.

I read a statement by Mrs. Clark once, to the effect that she always included words below and above the intended reader's level, so they would s-t-r-e-t-c-h their abilities and grow as a reader. I first read the book as a 4th grader years ago and it was a delight to revisit it. I would think that anyone at a 4th grade level could sound out the unfamiliar words, as they follow the usual rules of phonetics.

By the way, I read it aloud to my 6-7-8 combination reading class last year for listening comprehension lessons, and they couldn't wait for the next part of the story!

This is a very bad book, but one very much worth reading, at least for Rex Stout fans. It was written at the beginning of his career, when he was much under the influence of the adventure writers like Rider Haggard and Arthur Conan Doyle. It features all the outlandish elements of those books (beautiful women, romantic heroes, exotic locales, alien races), but much less deftly handled.

It is no surprise that after this fiasco, Stout took a long break before coming back with Fer de Lance, the first Nero Wolfe novels. Even then, he had not truly lost the brash, unsophisitcatd voice found in Under the Andes.

Don't read this book looking for a great plot, or nuanced characterization, or for the humor you will find in the Wolfe books. But if you love those books as I do, you might want to see how their author got to where he could write them.

This earnest adventure novel reads like a silly pulp written by someone with only half the smarts of the man who created Nero Wolfe. Of course, Stout fans (and I am one) love the brilliant Nero Wolfe novels with an irrational passion-- they're truly fine reading and seem just as fresh to day as when they were written 70 or 60 or 50 years ago. That said, this very early novel by Stout is a stolid attempt at a cliffhanger-- once the caverns under the Andes are reached, the narrative becomes repetitive as escape follows escape follows escape from the evil denizens of the deep. Only true fans of Stout will be even remotely amused by this early work-- luckily, he learned a lot in the 20 years that followed this exercise, and the first Nero Wolfe was as good as the last. (Note: this work is available in its entirety on the net.)

First published in 1914, this story is one of Rex Stout's earlist novel. Two bothers, and their lovely female companion, are enjoying their sea trip. The bothers are rich and the woman is famous, so they are welcomed everywhere they go. But what happens when they enter a cave and find that the depths under the Andes are NOT empty.
The book can be called one of old fashion adventure or even a science fiction novel, but for a Rex Stout fan it is also a must, to place besides the mystery novels he is famous for. A grand, and very detailed, introduction by John McAleer adds to the delight of the reader.
An early art of words from the master of mystery. I am happy to see that it continues to be reprinted.

I was given this book as a gift for my birthday. I was very exited, because I was born in the beautiful country of Ecuador and had travelled the same area that the book dipicted. The cover is very nice, it grabs your attention right away. As soon as I started the book I realized that it was in English and Spanish. I was very disapointed that the English portion was written very poorly; like it was done by someone who was not fluent in the language. I believe that if you are going to publish a book and charge so much money for it, it should at least make sense when you read it. I do say that the Spanish portion was fine, but I pity the poor English only reader who buys this book. All of this said, if you are looking for a nice book of postcard fotos, this is the book for you.

The author has created in this book an excellent experience of the ecuadorian andes and of the current indian groups, which are descendants of the precolombian inhabitants. Mr. Aguilar captures with first class photographic quality, the andean landscapes and remarkable portriats of these cultures. Additionally, he gives us a general view of these groups during their daily chores and festivities, which is an experiences in itself. For those of us familiar with this part of the world, Awakening in the Andes opens our eyes to the beauty that surrounds us every day, and for those interested in Ecuador, it is an excellent means of getting acquainted with the country and its andean indian cultures.

This dictionary is primarily for tourists. It was not designed for language study. If you're trying to converse or translate, it is a poor tool. Although it attempts to use latin script, some letters are substituted which makes deciphering a bit slow until you get used to it. If you find yourself in Baku you might be able to survive with this dictionary in your pocket.

I picked up this book on a whim, since I speak Turkish and wanted to learn Azerbaijani. I was pleasantly surprised to find not only words and phrases, but introductions to the alphabet, fairly thorough grammar, and loads of useful and very usable words and phrases. Awde is a great linguist, as well, I have picked up several excellent books by him on many subjects an find his work to be very reliable. I highly recommend this book.

Nothing could have prepared me for the monstrosity I was about to read. This book starts out promisingly but quickly degenerates into the ramblings of a spoiled and inarticulate man. Tierney is repetitive and continuously strays from the topic of religion to that of his own experiences. These experiences are useless, unless the reader plans on scaling large mountains in Peru. Besides this I thought the book was generally awful. Explanations are given numerous times, the author is self-glorifying and useful information is always lacking.

There is no doubt that this is a extremely important book to all those who are interested in religion subject as well as worried with the violence wave of our time. The Highest Altar allows a new understanding of human violence and lead us to inquire about the deep reasons of murder. It is a very well written book that should not be absent from everyone library. It should not be out of print; a new edition is necessary. My congratulation to Patrick Tierney for such a marvelous work.

Being one of the only books which handles sacrifices of the Andes, I was very interested reading it. The book gives a good summary of the different types of sacrifices which are in use. It does mention what kind of things are sacrificed, but it doesn't explain the significance of the things that are being sacrified. The emphasis is on the rituals and occasions rather then on the meaning of the offerings. Unfortunately it makes a book which good have been very interesthing rather superficial.

I'm AMAZED this book is available! I always assumed it was self-published.

Anyway, it's a gentle early-'New Age' reflection on being alive and realizing that everything is, in its own way, perfect. The author is a Vietnam veteran and world traveller who goes hiking (apparently regularly) through the Andes with his brother.

I'm not going to call it great, but it's a very pleasant, short read written from a loosely counter-cultural point of view. Wish I knew more about the authors...

Cusi an Inca boy wants to learn about his past. The old Indian who raised him will only tell him when the time comes. Later on Cusi must go on a journey by himself to the holy city of the Incas. On his way he will find what his heart desires. A family.