A wide ranging, scholarly overview of the Nasca Lines -- the best thing to come along on the subject in a decade. Aveni, who first became intrigued by the enigmatic figures on a jaunt from Cusco in the 1970s, has since logged countless hours among the spirals, zigzags, ray centers, and other lines carved in the desert of Southern Peru. In this book written for a popular audience he discusses previous theories about the significance of the lines, putting forward intriguing new ideas about how the lines may have related to sources of water. It's a follow-up to his more academic 1991 monograph "The Lines of Nasca."  (PRU22, $39.95)