The long, improbable journey to the Conquest of the Incas is an incredible, modern story. While the Inca Empire was expanding along the Pacific coast of South America, the backward Kingdom of Castile and Leon was mired in political intrigue. This is a story of courage, luck, colossal misjudgments and soaring ambition by entrepreneurs who would lead a culture clash ending in the fall of the Inca Empire and the rise of the Spanish Empire that lasted two hundred years due to Inca treasure. All the players sought the same things: independence, security, honor, wealth and glory. Few achieved their goals in any lasting sense but many displayed the indomitable spirit of motivated visionaries. This is their story.