The Ruins of Time (1975) examines the conquest of the Maya by the Spanish, the discoveries and adventures of the first travellers among them, the dramatic journeys of Victorian archaeologists and explorers and also contemporary attempts to unravel Maya hieroglyphs.

Part 1. Conquest 1. The Strength of Darkness 2. The Land of Maiam 3. The Conquest Begins 4. The Maya Crushed 5. 'Are They Not Men?' 6. Beneath the Vines, Beneath the Trees 7. The Fall of Tayasal Part 2. Exploration 8. A Lost City Rediscovered 9. The Race to Palenque 10. Incidents of Travel 11. The Cruzob, People of the Cross 12. The Greatest Discovery 13. La Cité Lorillard 14. The Epigraphers 15. Lords of the Jaguar Mat 16. A Foot-Soldier of Anthropology