Andes Mountains

School Library Journal

Gr 5-7-This introduction to the natural history of the Andes Mountains is marred by sloppy scholarship, careless editing, and clumsy writing. Ideas and theories are presented in a brief and confusing manner without the necessary explanations. For example, the defeat of the Incas by ``...fewer than 200 Spaniards with guns'' is the only explanation of the Conquest provided. Other such omissions of detail leave a completely false impression of the Incas' accomplishments. To state that ``There have always been problems with agriculture in the Andes'' ignores the fact that the Incas domesticated and developed myriad types of potatoes and fed a much larger pre-Conquest population through their well-developed system of terracing, agricultural experimentation, and food storage and distribution methods. The full-color maps, diagrams, and photographs are undistinguished. In addition, the captions are often misleading and/or inaccurate, e.g., a clearly Moche stirrup pot is labeled as Incan. Such obvious errors cast severe doubts on the entire book.-Frances E. Millhouser, Reston Regional Library, VA