This book accompanies the first North American exhibit of the arts of the Wari, organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Wari were the ancestors of the better-known Incas, cultural cousins to the people who built Tiahuanaco, and may be the first empire in the Americas. The book is well illustrated with photographs of exhibition objects, mostly painted ceramics and textiles of astonishingly brilliant color and complexity, all dating from 600-1100 AD and preserved by the deserts of coastal Peru. The book's text is very well written. It is suitable for both general and specialist readers with an interest in craft arts, archeology, anthropology, social and political history, or the history of the Americas. Susan E. Bergh, curator of Pre-Columbian and Native North American art at the Cleveland Museum, is the organizing writer, with chapters contributed by specialists on each area in the text. The writers convincingly argue from the evidence that European historians didn't notice the Wari Empire for two reasons: their power was sustained by large-scale cultural and economic rather than military takeover, and their ostentatious displays of power were "crafts," (ceramics, fiber) made on a small scale designed to be carried or worn. The book showcases breathtaking large-scale engineering and building works, and small art objects. The book is particularly strong in its photographs of the extraordinary Wari textiles, and its clear explanations of the language meanings coded in woven clothes and featherwork and how they were used for social communication and control. This is a finely produced art book, and a fascinating view of a different kind of empire, which used the control of water, food, and the mummies of important people as weapons of choice, built monumental architecture without metal, money, or draft animals, and communicated by weaving rather than writing. Oversize: 11x13". Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)