A journey through time and space, grappling with the ghosts of empire

A New Statesman Book of the Year, 2021

‘Follow Iain Sinclair into the cloud jungles of Peru and emerge questioning all that seemed so solid and immutable.’ Barry Miles

From the award-winning author of The Last London and Lights Out for the Territory, a journey in the footsteps of our ancestors.

Iain Sinclair and his daughter travel through Peru, guided by – and in reaction to – an ill-fated colonial expedition led by his great-grandfather. The family history of a displaced Scottish highlander fades into the brutal reality of a major land grab. The historic thirst for gold and the establishment of sprawling coffee plantations leave terrible wounds on virgin territory.

In Sinclair’s haunting prose, no place escapes its past, and nor can we.

‘The Gold Machine is a trip, a psychoactive expedition in compelling company.’ TLS

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‘Sinclair uses his passion for psychogeography to tell the story of what has happened in the years since the Peruvian Corporation left the Ashaninka people, how monetization exploited generational farming practices and left them in ruins… a thrilling ride.’

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‘Sinclair’s observations are sharp and vital… [The Gold Machine] stands in the long line of travel books where it is the journey, rather than its inspiration, that proves to be compelling.’