Drawing on letters and extensive archives, interviews with family members and his travels in Peru, Chris Heaney portrays not just the ambition and life of the charismatic explorer but also delves into the controversy over the artifacts that Bingham shipped (some say smuggled) home to the Peabody Museum at Yale. Heaney, who is a graduate of Yale in archaeology, lived in Peru from 2005 to 2006 on a Fulbright fellowship to work on the book.  (PRU106, $17.00)