Problem solved

In regards to my research gap, the problem is solved.

I took myself off to a second hand bookstore and picked up the only book they had on South American pre-history. Okay, it's Central American, but it's close - not for my needs, but it fills a gap. Mayans, Toltec, Aztec, all that good stuff.

I also picked up a natty little reader on Arms and Armour in England. It's a quick read; there's nothing more distracting than wading through an epic tome of history to find the kernal of information you were looking for (although... yeah, I'm easily sucked in by information and those tomes would keep me away from what I want.) I also picked up an interesting book on 'alternative' history.

What Might Have Been, edited by Andrew Roberts, is a book of twelve chapters dealing with various hypotheses of history. For example, what if King Charles I won the Civil War; The Gunpowder Plot succeeded; the Japanese didn't attack Pearl Harbour; or that Archduke Ferdinand survived Sarajevo.

I'm looking forward to reading this: where would be if these things had happened rather than what did happen?

Yes, alternative history is a current trend in fiction, and some of the books are interesting, but this book is written by historians who've made careers in history; and to me, it's also a research tool as well as fascinating.

If nothing else, it will teach me how to view history from a different perspective; always good when trying to write fiction from a different angle.