When reading Stern's Peru's Indian Peoples and the Challenge of the Spanish Conquest, I found that he is great at introducing and explaining facts that sometimes took me several times to understand in other books such as Religion and Empire. I thought that although a somewhat lengthy prologue, it was interesting to have him lay out the facts that had changed since he wrote the book ten years earlier. Another thing that I found interesting about the book itself, was that he was able to discover enough information and evidence to support a book about one specific region of Huamanga from Pre-Inca to 1640 considering facts from before the conquest are hard to come by. He does say on page 13 that, "Archaeological remains scattered throughout Lucanas and Andahuaylas confirm a history of local wars and struggles between rival communities and ethnic groups." It shows us his use of a variety of sources and different investigation techniques to discover a strong argument about what went on in Andean culture.
Another important piece of information I found intriguing was when he talked about Pre-Incan religion in Huamanga. On page 16, Stern presented information about the people of Huamanga participating in a "forgiveness of sins" ritual. It was my impression that after the Inca's took control these practices were ended? I do not remember such facts presented in Conrad and Demarest's Religion and Empire, were they? The ritual reminded me of La Otra Conquista because they state that in fact their two religions were similar, and the ritual purification practiced in Pre-Incan Huamanga was much like Christianity's confession of sins.
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