This work examines the valley of the Urubamba River in terms of vertical zonation, Incan impact on the environment, plant use, the history of exploration and the notion of discovery, the idea of land reform, and cultural contact with the European world. Winding its path northward from the Andean Highlands to the Amazon, the valley has served as the stage of pre-Columbian civilizations and focal point of Spanish conquest in Peru.
"Gade left behind not only a superb body of scholarly work, but a network of colleagues and students who remain indebted to his example. This book should serve as an inspiration for all scholars who wish to pursue the Sauerian, counter enlightenment or post development agendas of understanding and respecting particular places in all their historical and cultural complexity, including ambiguities and contradictions." -- The Geographical Review, American Geographical Society

This new book focuses on the Urubamba Valley of Peru, which spans 4000 meters of altitude mostly in the Department of Cusco. More than one million visitors a year come to the Urubamba, especially to experience Machu Picchu, which overlooks the valley floor. The book, based on over 50 years of research and field work, represents an impressive accumulation of regional knowledge and testifies to how a long scholarly commitment can lead to a deep understanding of place, that probes the present and past, human and non-human, common and uncommon.

"This monograph on the Urubamba Valley-consisting of 354 pages, with several instructive maps and photographs-clearly contributes to a better understanding of the nature/culture gestalt in the southern Peruvian Andes. ? Spell of the Urubamba is highly recommended to all those interested in Central Andean nature and culture." (Andreas Haller, Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 38 (1), 2018)

"Spell of the Urubamba is highly valuable as a unique type of reference work ? . The book is lavishly illustrated. ? Historians of geography and human-environmental scholarship, as well as researchers of diverse disciplines and interdisciplinary domains interested in Peru-such as archaeology, anthropology, agrobiodiversity studies, botany, ecology, ethnobotany, geosciences, history, and tourism studies-will find notes on undertakings in the Urubamba Valley of a number of well-known figures ? ." (Karl S. Zimmerer, The AAG Review of Books, Vol. 4 (3), July, 2016)