David Stephens

Under Andean Skies: Living and Writing in Peru David Stephens

Peru: a country of ancient civilizations that pre-date the Incas, a terrain that embraces Coast, Highlands, and Jungle, a dozen UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and a cuisine that is is being celebrated internationally.

This collection of Travel articles and short Fiction is a journey of discovery and imagination. The first half of the book is devoted to some of the country's extraordinary history and culture with articles exploring the great eathquake of 1745, the contributions of Gustav Eiffel to lighthouse construction, and the importance of the vicuna, the camelid that produces the world's finest and most expensive wool. There are also articles on the pre-Inca civilzations, Bohemian Barranco - where the author lived for six years - and of course, an important chapter focused on Peru's greatest citizen, Paddington Bear.

The second half of the book is devoted to an imaginary Peru: a land of mystery and darkness, the settings for stories of loss and disappearance, resolution and fear. In one, we journey north to the land of the Chachapoyas and meet a man seduced by a stranger along the banks of the Urubamba, in another we go down into the dungeons of the Museum of the Inquisition just before closing time... and in a final story we join a father searching for his disappeared son - missing in the cocaine fields of Central Peru - once home to the Shining Path.