Inventing Lima: Baroque Modernity in Peru's South Sea Metropolis

Inventing Lima is the first synthetic cultural history of Peru’s baroque “City of the Kings.”  Professor Osorio’s interpretation of ritual life in the Peruvian metropolis significantly revises our understanding of the colonial history of Latin America.  Osorio argues that Lima was a baroque “border city” that linked the South Sea with the Andes.  As the “Head city” of the Viceroyalty of Peru, Lima came to govern and represent a vast and rich domain within Spain’s worldwide empire. This meticulously documented and theoretically informed study is must reading for all those interested in the modern history of cities and empires.