City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

The gold machine, in the tracks of the mule dancers, Iain Sinclair

eng

Includes bibliographical references

illustrationsmaps

no index present

non fiction

The gold machine

Iain Sinclair

in the tracks of the mule dancers

In The gold machine, Iain Sinclair and his daughter travel through Peru, guided by and in reaction to an ill-fated colonial expedition led by his great-grandfather, Arthur Sinclair. The incursions of Catholic bounty hunters and Adventist missionaries are contrasted with today's ecotourists and short-cut vision seekers. The family history of a displaced Scottish highlander fades into the brutal reality of a major land grab. The historic thirst for gold and the establishment of sprawling coffee plantations leave terrible wounds on virgin territory. A boys' own adventure story is transformed into a shocking tale of the violated rights of indigenous people, secret dealings between London finance and Peruvian government, and the collusion of the church in colonial expansion. A beautiful valley is now the property of a British corporation. In Sinclair's haunting prose, no place escapes its past, and nor can we