House of the Tiger King
 First UK edition cover | |
| Author | Tahir Shah |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Tahir Shah (photos) |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Peru, exploration |
| Genre | Travel |
| Published | 2003 John Murray |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 240 pp. |
| ISBN | 978-0719566110 |
| Preceded by | In Search of King Solomon's Mines |
| Followed by | The Caliph's House |
House of the Tiger King is a travel book by Anglo-Afghan author, Tahir Shah.
Overview
When the Spanish Conquistadors swept through Peru in the sixteenth century, they were searching for great golden treasure. In 1572 they stormed the Inca stronghold of Vilcabamba, only to find the city deserted, burned, and already stripped of its wealth. According to legend the Incas had retreated deep into the jungle where they built another magnificent city in an inaccessible quarter of the cloud forest.[1] For more than four centuries explorers and adventurers, archaeologists and warrior-priests have searched for the gold and riches of the Incas, and this lost city of Paititi, known by the local Machiguenga tribe as ‘The House of the Tiger King’.
After the lost city obsession had gnawed away at Tahir Shah for almost a decade, he could stand it no more. He put together an expedition and set out into Peru’s Madre de Dios jungle, the densest cloud forest on earth. He teamed up with Pancho, a Machiguenga warrior who asserted that in his youth he came upon a massive series of stone ruins deep in the jungle. Pancho’s ambition was to leave the jungle and visit a ‘live’, bustling city, so the two men made a pact: if Pancho took Shah to Paititi, then Shah would take Pancho to the Peruvian capital.
House of the Tiger King is the tale of Shah’s adventure to find the greatest lost city of the Americas, and the treasure of the Incas. Along the way he found himself considering others who have spent decades in pursuit of lost cities, and asks why anyone would find it necessary to mount such a quest at all.
Documentary film
The project was also the basis for a feature documentary film of the same name[2][3] and the book was selected to be read on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week.[4]
Reviews
References
- ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/house-of-the-tiger-king-a-jungle-obsession-by-tahir-shah-554653.html
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422434/
- ↑ http://blogs.indiewire.com/gems/archives/002996.html
- ↑ "The House Of The Tiger King. First broadcast from 20040712 to 20040716. By Tahir Shah. Read by Sam Dastor". Radiolistings.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-09-23.