Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, Vol. 1

In 1838, two men slash through the Honduran forest with machetes, following a guide deeper into wilderness than anyone from the outside world has ever gone. What they find will upend everything the West thinks it knows about ancient civilization. John Lloyd Stephens and his companion Frederick Catherwood stumble upon towering pyramids, fourteen-foot stone columns carved with solemn, terrifying faces, monuments covered in hieroglyphics of breathtaking craftsmanship. The Maya are not scattered primitives. They are a lost empire of staggering ambition, and these two men are the first to see their wonders in centuries. But Stephens has a second mission: President Van Buren has sent him as ambassador to the fractious Republic of Central America, which erupts into civil war the moment he arrives. He finds himself dodging revolutionary armies while hunting for a legitimate government, all while documenting discoveries that will reshape our understanding of the pre-Columbian world. Part adventure narrative, part diplomatic thriller, part archaeological revelation, this is the book that introduced the Maya to the modern era.