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General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1914Original Publisher: T. F. UnwinSubjects: EcuadorHistory / Latin America / South AmericaHistory / AmericasTravel / South America / GeneralNotes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free.Excerpt: CHAPTER III THE COMING OF THE INCAS The history of the Incas, and the very fragmentary knowledge which exists concerning their predecessors, the " Andine people" as they have been termed, belongs properly to the history of Peru rather than to that of Ecuador. The beginning of the history of these remarkable people, the Incas, lies in the grey dawn of myth and fable ; whilst the doings of their predecessors, from whom they doubtless inherited the principles of their civilization, are only recorded in the ruined walls of the stone structures they left on the Andine uplands, and in pottery and textile fabrics, often of very beautiful manufacture, discovered in their burial-places. Otherwise their history is a closed book. The principal monument of the " Andine people " is the sculptured monolithic doorway of the ruins at Tiahuanako, in Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca, but there are other vestiges scattered throughout Peru. The work of the Incas is generally separable therefrom. Into an account of the remarkable civilization of the Incas, their laws, temples, and industries, it is not the purpose of this book to enter.The Incas of Peru, whose power and influence had reached a very high state, began to regard with jealousy the flourishing Shiri nation. It was always the policy of the Inca Empire to extend its borders, and in 1450, under the great Inca emperor Tupac Yupanqui, the Eleventh Inca, the idea of northernconquest or " rectification" of the frontier first... ... Read more

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Chapters: History of the Ecuadorian-peruvian Territorial Dispute. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 357. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The territorial dispute between Ecuador and Peru was the longest-running source of armed international conflict in the Western Hemisphere. The dispute traces its roots back to the imprecise definitions used by the Colonial Spain to define the limits of the Royal Audiences that controlled the colonial territories; after Peru and neighboring Gran Colombia claimed their independence from the crown in 1821 and 1819, respectively, the dispute over ownership of territories in the Amazon basin led to war in 1828. It was decided that the border would be the same one that existed between the Spanish viceroyalties of Peru and New Granada. The Republic of Ecuador seceded from Gran Colombia in 1830. When the country attempted to hand over parts of the disputed Amazon territories to British creditors as debt repayment in 1857, the conflict was reignited. Peru implemented a military blockade of the port of Guayaquil when its demands for the revocation of the deal, as well as official acknowledgement of Peruvian sovereignty over the disputed territories, went unheeded; with Ecuador in a state of civil war, the government of Guillermo Franco in Guayaquil, claiming to represent the entire country, agreed to Peru's demands in the Treaty of Mapasingue of 1860. Gabriel Garcia Moreno's provisional government won the civil war later that year, and voided the treaty, with the new Peruvian government following suit several years later. The dispute continued through the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. Numerous attempts were made to define the border during that time, but the two countries could never come to an agreement that they both saw as f...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2923131 ... Read more

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Chapters: Battles Involving Ecuador, Battle of Guayaquil, 2009 Quito B200 King Air Crash. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 23. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Battle of Guayaquil was the final and pivotal armed confrontation of the Ecuadorian Civil War. The battle was fought on the outskirts of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador on September 22 24, 1860 among several factions claiming control of the country's territory in the wake of the abdication of president Francisco Robles, amidst continuous Peruvian military pressure due to an ongoing territorial dispute. The battle brought an end to a series of skirmishes between the forces of Gabriel García Moreno's Provisional Government, backed by General Juan José Flores, and the government of General Guillermo Franco in Guayas, which was recognized by Peruvian president Ramón Castilla. After a series of internal problems and diplomatic issues with Peru, Ecuadorian president Francisco Robles resigned from his post on May 1, 1859, leaving control of the country split among a number of Jefaturas Supremas (Supreme Commands). Ecuadorian statesman Gabriel García Moreno created a provisional government seated in Quito, while General Franco declared himself Supreme Chief of Guayas. Peruvian President Castilla, intending to take advantage of the leadership crisis to broker a favorable territorial deal, commanded a Navy force that blockaded the Gulf of Guayaquil. Failing to reach an agreement with García Moreno, Castilla met with Franco and signed the Treaty of Mapasingue, recognizing all disputed territories as belonging to Peru. The expeditionary troops returned to Callao on February 19 1860, after supplying Franco's army with boots, uniforms, and 3,000 rifles. Accusing Franco of treason for signing the treaty with the Peruvians, Gabriel Gar...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=24234857 ... Read more

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Ecotravellers to Ecuador want to experience tropical forests and other stunning habitats and catch glimpses of exotic wildlife, such as toucans and parrots, monkeys and anteaters, frogs and toads, and crocodiles and snakes. On the Galápagos Islands, curious visitors want to see with their own eyes the exotic, unique, and tame wildlife that stimulated Charles Darwin to formulate the theory of evolution. This book provides the information you need to find, identify, and learn about Ecuador's magnificent animal and plant life. The authors, professional biologists, selected for color illustrations more than 500 of Ecuador's most common insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals--the species you are most likely to see. In one easy-to-carry, entertainingly written, beautifully illustrated book, you will have as constant companion on your journey, information on identification, behavior, habitats, common plants, and parks and reserves in the region.

Key Features
* Includes identifying and location information on the most frequently spotted animals
* Up-to-date information on the ecology, behavior, and conservation of these animals
* Information on Ecuador's habitats and on the most common plants you will encounter
* Brief descriptions of the region's most frequently visited parks and reserves ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A good guide to more than birds!
I chose this book for my trip to Ecuador because it included non-birds, and I didn't know of a book that covered everything but birds, nor did I want to bring two separate guides.This book did include nearly all the birds, monkeys and other animals I saw in 25 days in several different ecosystems, though it could have been stronger in the area of frogs and invertebrates (spiders, ants, butterflies, snails...) and the segregation of Galapagos species into their own section was somewhat inaccurate, as several of them can also be seen on Isla de la Plata.(The jungle lodge I visited had several copies of this book on their shelves for visitor use, which I think can be considered an endorsement.)I came home perfectly satisfied with it, even though we had to rely on our naturalists for a few identifications.

I'll admit to having cut out most of the text section and left it at home to save on weight, taking along only the color plates and brief haitat descriptions.Fortunately, the color pages do include enough region and habitat information on each entry to help distinguish similar species.Now that I'm home, I'll put it back together and enjoy reading the text as a way of softening the blow of leaving Ecuador.I can't wait to go back and explore more, and I didn't even try to cover the Galapagos!

Great for Ecotourist
This book was one used by my guide during a recent trip to the Ecuadorian
Selva.I purchased it on my return home and transfered my field notes to the pages with the appropriate birds and animals I had the pleasure to see.I have enjoyed reading the addition info the book provides and it will help preserve my experience for myself and others.

Excellent Color Plates with a thorough, yet readable text
A layman needs a good guide when on tour of a new territory, whether that be a museum, a literary genre, or a country's heritage.In David Pearson's and Les Beletsky's 485 page ECUADOR and its GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, they present a book that is as good a guide as a layman could hope for, not just for exploring Ecuador or its Galapagos Islands, but for getting to know much of the fauna of Amazonian Latin America.The text is professionally written, yet down to earth and not infrequently humorous.The famous entomologist J. Henri Fabre once wrote, "Others again have reproached me with my style, which has not the solemnity, nay, better, the dryness of the schools.They fear lest a page that is read without fatigue should not always be the expression of the truth.Were I to take their word for it, we are profound only on condition of being obscure."This approach to scientific writing - being informative without being pedantic - allows writers like Pearson and Beletsky to fill the reader's heart with wonder while still often bringing a smile to his/her face.

With Ecuador being one of the most biologically diverse countries on earth, it is impossible to create a book that is both comprehensive and brief.The authors have gone for middle ground, covering the portion of Ecuadorian wildlife that is of interest and/or likely to be spotted by the ecotraveller to Ecuador.There are 96 color plates (with 5-6 animals illustrated on each one), several pages of color photographs, an excellent chapter - with maps - of Ecuador's National Parks and Bioreserves, a section on Ecuador's geography and habitats (e.g., Lowland Wet Forest, Mangrove and Coastal Vegetation) along with drawings illustrating several major plants in these regions, and 200 pages of animal descriptions under the headings 'Amphibians', 'Reptiles', 'Birds', 'Mammals', 'Insects & Other Arthropods', and 'Galapagos Wildlife'.

As an Ecuadorian resident, I have found this guide to be an excellent aid to identifying and understanding the natural history of the country.The book was both informative and fun to read, and I can highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about this wonderful area of the world.

Go go Galapagos!
I have just returned from those Enchanted Isles and found Beletsky's guide omnipresent, dog-eared and tightly clutched in the sea-salted hands of many a visitor. I am surprised that the Sea Lions and Blue Footed Boobies didnot have their own copies!

This guide is a truly indispensible accessoryfor those fortunate enough to have visited those Islands of wonder andenchantment. It is also a great whetter of one's appetite! Other books havetheir strengths, but when push comes to shove, or in this case just goingaround..., one wants a thorough compliment to one's naturalist (to make allthose notations when one gets back home, of course) and also a look intowhat is to come. Accurate and beautifully illustrated. ... Read more

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In Amazonia: Territorial Struggles on Perennial Frontiers, Paul Little chronicles centuries of territorial disputes in Amazonia. Examining a wide variety of social groups from an environmental and anthropological perspective, Little describes the factors that have created two unique biophysical and political environments at opposite ends of the Amazon River basin's rain forest.

Little makes a comparative study of the Aguarico region in eastern Ecuador (at the western upper edge of the rain forest) and the Jari region of Brazil (at its eastern lowland end) using four time frames to examine early European invasions of indigenous homelands, fortune-building attempts in Amazonia, conservation concerns in the tropical ecosystems; and disputes over territorial claims that arose during the 1990s. By interweaving his examination between the two regions within each time frame, Little effectively highlights how similar globalizing forces were locally appropriated to produce widely divergent environmental and political histories.

A large part of the study is given to the period beginning in the 1950s. Little outlines the contemporary struggles -- social, political, economic, and ecological -- arising in Amazonia. He also examines the frontier processes of ethnocide and ethnogenesis whereby the indigenous communities of the upper Amazon have retained some control over their lands, while in the lower Amazon traditional riverine communities strive for existence against increasing industrialization.

Thoroughly researched and examining issues ranging from resource exploitation and conservation to colonization, urbanization, and industrialization, Amazonia will appeal to students and scholars in environmental studies, geography, ecology and conservation, cultural anthropology, and Latin American studies and history as well as anyone interested in Amazonia.

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The Indians of ancient Ecuador decorated their clay spindles and beads with brilliantly realized images, many of which were drawn from their everyday lives. This collection includes 282 of these pre-Columbian designs (500-1500 a.d.), among them rich representations of people, mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, plants, heads, geometric designs and more.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent sourcebook
This is a very good book, made with the traditional Dover Publication quality found in other books in their series that feature pictorials as diverse in subject matter as Art Noveau and Japanese Designs. As stated in the book, it is a permanent book producedwith the quality standards used for the best books including pages bound in signatures that open flat for reference without the pages coming out. This is important since eachpage has three or four details taken from designs from pre-Columbian Ecuadorand if you are copying them you will need the pages open and flat for an extended period of time. The designs are black and white illustrations and range is subject matter from splayed figures, people, many different animals including mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, plants and abstact creations, just to name a few. Each illustration is flat and enlarged showing the detail next to the smaller whorl or bead. The designs are taken from the private collection of the author.The author, Frederick w. Shaffer, used his collection of spindle whorls or weights and decorative beads that date backfrom 500 to 1500 A.D. In the introduction their is a brief explanation of these onjectsand their use and how he aquired them in 1959. Although this is not a historical book per se it does represent the art work of the craftsmen of ancient Ecuador so it does have some historical significance. It is a remarkable collection of designs or motiffs that are valuable for people invloved in the visual arts. As a sourcebook for people in advertising, textiles or woodwork these designs may be used at will, with the permission of the author, to enlarge, reduce, alter, etc. for your convenience. If you are creative these designs can also be a stimulas for your own designs influenced by the ancient artists of Ecuador. Crafts people in jewelry, metalcraft or leather will find these designs very helpful. An interesting feature is the similarities in these designsand other objects collected from vastlydifferent geographical locations in pre-Columbian America.The book is similar to the(2) books of ancient designs of Mexico by Jorge Enciso. ... Read more

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Challuabamba (chī-wa-bamba)--now a developing suburb of Cuenca, the principal city in the southern highlands of Ecuador--has been known for a century as an ancient site that produced exceptionally fine pottery in great quantities. Suspecting that Challuabamban ceramics might provide a link between earlier, preceramic culture and later, highly developed Formative period art, Terence Grieder led an archaeological investigation of the site between 1995 and 2001. In this book, he and the team of art historians and archaeologists who excavated at Challuabamba present their findings, which establish the community's importance as a center in a network of trade and artistic influence that extended to the Amazon River basin and the Pacific Coast.

Art and Archaeology of Challuabamba, Ecuador presents an extensive analysis of ceramics dating to 2100-1100 BC, along with descriptions of stamps and seals, stone and shell artifacts, burials and their offerings, human remains, and zooarchaeology. Grieder and his coauthors demonstrate that the pottery of Challuabamba fills a gap between early and late Formative styles and also has a definite connection with later highland styles in Peru. They draw on all the material remains to reconstruct the first clear picture of Challuabamba's prehistory, including agriculture and health, interregional contacts and exchange, red-banded incised ware and ceramic production, and shamanism and cosmology.

Because southern Ecuador has received relatively little archaeological study, Art and Archaeology of Challuabamba, Ecuador offers important baseline data for what promises to be a key sector of the prehistoric Andean region.

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A short history of Ecuador, with copious black and white (b&w) photographs. ... Read more

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No single symposium or volume could do justice to the amount of information now available on Ecuadorian prehistory. This volume and the symposium on which it was based are devoted, therefore, to the archaeology of Formative Ecuador in order to bring new information on one of the most important periods of the region's past to the attention of New World scholars. While the volume includes two chapters on ideology and iconography, the focus is distinctly archaeological, with an emphasis on the fundamentals of archaeological science, including settlement patterns, subsistence, health, and ceramic variability.

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Using contemporary and historical data as well as observations gathered during a decade of field research, the author analyzes changes in Andean farmers' strategies and methods for eking out a living from the land over a period of many centuries. He finds that the farmers have generally used techniques that dovetail with the need to maximize labour efficiency, given a particular social structure and population density, regardless of environmental factors or cultural traditions. ... Read more