What happens when an adventure travel expert-who's never actually done
anything adventurous-tries to recreate the original expedition to Machu Picchu?

In the official version of the story-the twentieth century's most famous tale
of discovery-July 24, 1911 was a day for the history books. For on that rainy
morning, the young Yale professor Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes
Mountains of Peru and encountered an ancient city in the clouds: the nowfamous
citadel of Machu Picchu. Nearly a century later, news reports have
recast the hero explorer as a villain who smuggled out priceless artifacts and
stole credit for finding one of the world's greatest archaeological sites.

Mark Adams has spent his career editing adventure and travel magazines,
polishing hair-raising tales about the exploits of famous explorers. So his plan
to investigate the allegations against Bingham by retracing the explorer's
perilous path to Machu Picchu isn't completely far-fetched, even if it does
require him to sleep in a tent for the first time. With a crusty, antisocial
Australian survivalist and several Quechua-speaking, coca-chewing mule
tenders as his guides, Adams takes readers through some of the most
gorgeous and historic landscapes in Peru, from the ancient Inca capital of
Cusco to the enigmatic ruins of Vitcos and Vilcabamba.

Along the way he finds a still-undiscovered country populated with brilliant
and eccentric characters, as well as an answer to the question that has nagged
scientists since Hiram Bingham's time: Just what was Machu Picchu?

Questions? Comments? E-mail us at duttonpublicity@us.penguingroup.com