THE LAST PRINCESS

This precedes in time Treasure of the Sun (see report P. 719) for here the Spaniards have just landed (1532) and Atahualpa, the Inca, is confronted with a question to which history has given the answer. Tacara-Ml, half-sister of the Inca, daughter of the Emperor and his Jivaro wife, incurs the Inca's displeasure when she runs away from court, works with the people and earns a death sentence. Taclos, the young, liberal, Spanish fearing premier, is sent to find her and return her for death and, in tracking her down and guarding her, learns to love her and join her in hopes of revenging themselves on Pizarro and his soldiers. Here is the civilized, sophisticated Peru of the 16th century, the end of empire, which has been presaged by internal uprisings under Atahualpa, the formalities -- and the informalities -- of the age in a polished rather than a pedestrian recreation whose light footed way through history is still informed -- and informative.