I... was simplifying just a tad? > they expertly pitted groups of native elites against each other In the Andes, they walked right in at the end of a civil wa

I... was simplifying just a tad? > they expertly pitted groups of native elites against each other In the Andes, they walked right in at the end of a civil war. The Incas had actually established their own empire less than 100 years earlier, and indeed ruled over an estimate 12 million from their tribe of ~100,000, who became the elites. Also interesting; I'm up to the bit where the Spaniards actually have their own little civil war between two of the conquistadors, and not all that far into the conquest. > The spaniard conquest of central and south america differed markedly from the genocidal conquest of north america which is reflected in the genetic makeup of the populations in the americas. Absolutely. Ditto for Australia.