This book is essential homework for the person preparing to visit the Machu Picchu Sanctuary in Peru. You can benefit from learning how to visit the ruin in a self-guided fashion and from cross-checking your guides info to authenticate what she/he are telling you. It also has sufficient info to help you understand what Machu Picchu is all about, the role of Hiram Bingham, the local people who led him to the site in 1911 and it helps set the stage for reading other books like MacQuarrie's The Last Days of the Incas. One should supplement this guide with the International Travel Map, Cuzco Region - Machu Picchu - Peru 1:110,000