There remains much to be written about the history of Peruvian archaeology, despite the existence of accounts focused on prominent individuals such as Max Uhle and Julio C. Tello. Notably lacking to date has been an overview placing research in the context of the social, political, and economic changes that were occurring concurrently both inside and outside Peru. Tantaleán has provided the first such analytical review.

The book is divided into 10 chapters. Chapter 1 briefly traces the gradual emergence of archaeology from early postconquest times up until the very end of the nineteenth century. Chapter 2 introduces Uhle who, in 1896, conducted the first stratigraphic excavations in Peru. He continued his work with American sponsorship, was appointed by an enlightened government to head the archaeological section at a new National Museum in 1906, and developed a chronological scheme based on horizon styles. Also introduced is Tello, who explored the ruins of Chavín de Huantar and established a museum of archaeology at the University of San Marcos in 1919. In chapter 3 the reader learns that during the 1920s Peru forged a strong relationship with the United States while dealing with the rise of an indigenous movement in the southern highlands centered at Cuzco. Tello began teaching anthropology at San Marcos in 1923 and was named director of the National Museum of Archaeology in 1924. Based on his work at Chavín he theorized an Andean mother culture with highland and tropical forest origins that diffused to the coast. At the start of the 1930s the effects of the Great Depression resulted in a military coup. Tello was removed as director of the National Museum and was replaced by the historian Luis E. Valcárcel. The latter created a new National Museum, was proactive in forging a national identity, and focused his attention on the cleaning and reconstruction of Inca sites in and around Cuzco. Because of Valcárcel's emphasis on tourism his work was fully funded by the government, to the detriment of Tello's scientific endeavors; this caused Tello to travel to the United States in 1936, resulting in the creation of the Institute of Andean Research. Chapter 4 focuses on Valcárcel and the indigenous movement that had intellectual roots in Cuzco. Valcárcel drew inspiration from the discovery of the ruins of Machu Picchu and subsequently became enamored with Marxist ideas. In 1927 he was briefly imprisoned for publishing a work in which he called for a revolution to create an idealized Inca state.

Chapter 5 focuses on the amateur archaeologist Rafael Larco Hoyle, who proposed the idea that rather than an early highland Chavín culture diffusing westward, an early coastal Cupisnique culture had spread eastward. The focus of chapter 6 is the 1950s, when the military government approved research by American Fulbright students. John Rowe and his students at Berkeley also conducted research at this time. He established a temporal scheme of alternating periods and horizons based on stylistic changes identified for the Ica Valley. The focus of chapter 7 is the ethnohistorian John Murra, who used documents to identify the locales of specific sites. In particular, attention is given both to his work at the Inca ruins of Huánuco Pampa and to his archipelago model. It was during the 1960s that the National Geographic Society sponsored multidisciplinary explorations and excavations in the Moche Valley; another major multidisciplinary American project focused on the Mantaro Valley. The political climate inside and outside Peru had changed due to the Cold War. Research in the following decade was decidedly focused on social science as practiced by the Peruvian Luis Lumbreras, who is the focus of chapter 8. Chapter 9 discusses the highly disruptive 1980s and the rise of the Shining Path. During this period yet another major multidisciplinary project, international in character, was conducted in the Moquegua region. Opportunities were provided to faculty and students, especially those affiliated with San Marcos. But, as discussed in chapter 10, during the 1990s the government temporarily shut down this public university and severely reduced its funding. In concert with increased foreign funding for the private Catholic University, this served to reduce the prestige and outreach of San Marcos. Finally, at the start of the new century the newly elected president linked his administration to the glorious past of the Inca as expressed in the ruins of Machu Picchu, thus signaling a revival of nationalism.

Each of Tantaleán's chapters could be expanded into a book, resulting in a series that would cover a plethora of topics and viewpoints. Tello, for example, is given insufficient credit for his social activism, as demonstrated by articles written by and about him published in the Lima press. Tantaleán's chapters are in part character-driven, in part theoretically driven, and in part institutionally driven, all within the context of the complexities of national and international interconnections over time. While his presentation at first glance appears to be primarily chronological, this is not necessarily so, nor is there consistency of focus from chapter to chapter. The final chapters, for example, become increasingly personal and autobiographical.

Despite these criticisms, Tantaleán merits praise for publishing the first analytical general history of Peruvian archaeology and a debt is owed to Charles Stanish for his fine translation. Tantaleán's book provides an important starting point from which to begin serious discussions inside and outside the classroom. Its target audience is primarily professional, but because of the larger-than-life characters discussed within, it will appeal to anyone interested in the history of archaeology in general, and specifically that of Peru.