The Four Heavens

”[A] superb, sprawling account of Maya civilization… . Thanks in large part to Stuart, our knowledge about things we never imagined we would know is reaching new heights. Being able to read the newly available sources—’the oldest extant voices anywhere in the Americas,’ as Stuart puts it—is nothing short of a gift.”—Ilan Stavans, American Scholar
“History, like gossip, is only interesting if you know the players. A series of unfamiliar names, dates and events has little meaning without such knowledge or, at least, an exceptionally wise and intuitive guide. David Stuart exemplifies the latter.”—Max Carter, Wall Street Journal
“A robust scholarly contribution to new understandings of ancient peoples as adaptable and open to social experimentation.” * Publishers Weekly *
“Groundbreaking and highly accessible… .The Four Heavens brings alive the people, places, and events that until recently have been absent from broad narratives of the ancient world.”—Gavin O’Toole, Latin American Review of Books
“The best thing about this book in my view is that it is possible to write it at all. The fact that we can now piece together a chronicle of the Maya in something like their own words is remarkable, when just a few decades ago we understood almost none of this…[The Four Heavens] puts the Mayan people at the heart of their story.”—Anthony Webb, Popular History Books

David Stuart is the David and Linda Schele Professor of Mesoamerican Art and Writing and director of the Mesoamerica Center at the University of Texas at Austin. His books include Palenque: Eternal City of the Maya, The Order of Days: Unlocking the Secrets of the Ancient Maya, and Spearthrower Owl: A Teotihuacan Ruler in Maya History. He is the youngest person ever to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.

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