Book review: ‘The Gold Machine’ by Iain Sinclair

In this book, Iain Sinclair, his daughter and film-maker Grant Gee travel through Peru in the footsteps of Sinclair’s great-great-grandfather, Arthur Sinclair. Over a century earlier, Arthur wrote a book about an expedition he had jointly led on behalf of a UK-owned company that aquired large tracts of Peruvian land as part of a deal to write off Peruvian national debt.

The Gold Machine is an exploration of colonialism, capitalism and Catholicism, and the harm they do to the environment and to indigenous and other local peoples.

As anyone familiar with Ian Sinclair’s style will expect, this is not a straight, factual account, but interweaves folklore, psychogeography and occasional flights of fancy. As they will also expect, it’s a terrifically entertaining read.