Civilizations by Laurent Binet

Binet takes on the pleasures of alternative history.  In this case, he invents some could-have-happened alternative contacts between Europe and America which result in an Incan invasion of Europe.

Needless to say, this opens the door for role reversals, as a handful of canny adventurers from the Andes decapitate and take over Spain and its empire.  This adventure is aided by the disunity and duplicity of European states during the Reformation and counter-Reformation, as well as war with Turkey.

Binet enjoys telling us what the Incas think about European culture, religion, and disputes.  Spoiler alert—the South Americans don't understand Christianity, find it mostly bizarre and superstitious, and certainly don't grok the tiny doctrinal points that the different factions are fighting about.

Binet has the Spanish Inca promulgate liberal land reform and tolerant religious policies, as well as establishing Temples of the Sun in Europe.  The new religion rescrambles the political and religious calculations of European monarchs, and rescrambles the religious wars. 

Inca run Spain contests with Catholic Austria. In Italy, the Pope is ousted and replace with an ally of the Inca.  The ousted Pope takes refuge in Athens, under the protection of the Turks.  And so on.

One of the memorable incidents is King Henry VIII's maneuvering.  Struggling with the Pope over his desire to divorce and remarry Anne, he decides to convert England to Sun worship, naming himself Inca of England.  Conveniently, Incas can have many wives, which simplifies Henry's life quite a bit.  And in Henry's interpretation, the temple attendants are young virgins dedicated to his service.  Sigh.

It is possible that Binet intended this alternative history as a parable about contemporary affairs, or the history of Imperialism.  I'm not sure.  If so, I didn't get it.

But it's a fun story to read, so I don't mind missing the lesson, if there was supposed to be one.

  1. Laurent Binet, Civilizations. Translated by S. Taylor, New York, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2021.

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