Philip Ainsworth Means

author

Philip Ainsworth Means

1892–1944

An American historian and anthropologist with a lasting fascination for Peru and the Indigenous cultures of the Andes, he wrote widely for both scholarly and general readers. His work helped introduce many English-language readers to Andean history, archaeology, and colonial sources.

1 Audiobook

History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan and of the Itzas

by Philip Ainsworth Means

About the author

Born in 1892, Philip Ainsworth Means was an American historian, anthropologist, and writer whose career centered on Peru and the Andean world. He studied at Harvard and became known for research on Indigenous history, archaeology, and early colonial chronicles, bringing together field interest, archival work, and a strong talent for explanation.

Means wrote books and articles that explored Peru’s past for a broad English-speaking audience. His work included studies of Inca and pre-Columbian history as well as translations and editions related to Peruvian historical sources, and he became one of the better-known North American interpreters of Andean civilization in the early 20th century.

Later in life, he also wrote on other historical subjects, showing a wide-ranging curiosity beyond South America. He died in 1944, but his writings remain part of the record of how Peru and the Andes were introduced to many readers outside the region in the first half of the 20th century.