The Tupac Amaru Rebellion was the largest indigenous uprising ever to occur in colonial Spanish America, and Charles F. Walker provides here the first accessible full account in English. He extends the dates of coverage from 1780–1781 to include up through 1783, tracing the latter phases of rebellion after Tupac Amaru himself had been executed. This allows discussion not only of the uprisings around Cuzco but also in the southern regions around Lake Titicaca and La Paz in Upper Peru (Bolivia) and the closely related rebellions led by Tomás and Tupac Katari in that area. Walker argues that as the rebellions went on, both rebels and the royalist resistance became increasingly violent as restraints eased or disappeared. While initially Tupac Amaru sought a multi-ethnic following, as time passed the uprising became increasingly indigenous, targeting creoles and mestizos. Walker repeats the estimated death toll of 100,000 (out of a total population of 1.8 million in the viceroyalty of Peru), making this the second most bloody plebeian revolution in the Americas (after Haiti).
