This captivating history unfolds with Pizarro and Almagro, Valdivia and Benalcazar, as they and their daring companions embark on a ruthless quest across the Isthmus, leading to the conquest, massacre, and enslavement of the thriving and sophisticated civilizations along the Pacific coast of South America. The narrative culminates with the United States carving a path through that same Isthmus, facilitating global trade and commerce, as American engineers lay railroad tracks along the ancient imperial highway of the Incas. Witness British bondholders extending mercy to a beleaguered Peru, facing bankruptcy and ultimately relinquishing control of its railways. (Excerpted from the Preface, which includes a bibliography and a wealth of illustrations.)