Velvet & steel

Despite being a short book, Byford-Jones fits a lot in. He writes in an engaging way, maintaining a level of interest throughout, which is uncommon in a travel narrative. He included a lot of historical information as well as (when written) up to date research information, but melds it well into his own travels and thoughts.

Published in 1967, this books covers a short section of his South American travel, presumably a few years prior - only a short sojourn in Bolivia, and then Peru. Picking up on the title - Peru is referred to as having four faces - those being Lima, the desert coast, the Andes and the Amazon jungle - and Byford-Jones visits them all.

From Lake Titicaca to Machu Picchu, from Nazca to tribes of Amazonian Indians. The author also spends time on the plight of the Indians, their unfair treatment by the Spanish (he reserves a fair amount of vitriol for the Spanish), and the increasing gap between the Peruvian rich and poor.

I found this book easy to read, hard to put down, and I liked the fact it covered so much of Peru in an efficient manner.
5 stars.