Rivers of Blood intensely recounts the rise and fall of Shining Path. Drawing on new documentary sources, extensive interviews, and decades of research, Orin Starn and Miguel La Serna lead the reader to the heart of one of the most violent wars in contemporary Peru, while also illuminating the resistance of the women and men who confronted the violence.

The book recovers little-known episodes from the Andes and the slums of Lima, while offering new perspectives on key figures such as María Elena Moyano and Mario Vargas Llosa. With agile and dramatic prose, Rivers of Blood combines narrative power with academic rigor to provide a fresh perspective on a conflict whose painful legacy still marks Peru today.