"Peru as It Is" is an account of the social and physical features of Peru, written by a Scottish physician Archibald Smith, after the first ten years he had spent in this country. He was professionally brought into contact with persons of all classes and ranks in society, from the palace to the humblest hut, both in the interior of Peru, and in its capital, Lima. This made the author more than adequate to tells everybody's side of the story and digs deeper into the core of the problem.

Archibald Smith (1798-1870), was a Scottish physician who resided in Peru from 1826 till the end of his life. He was hired by the Anglo Pasco Peruvian Mining Company, a British company which extracted silver from the Central Andean district of Cerro de Pasco, to provide healthcare for English miners and officials who worked in the mines. As one the most influential physicians of the 19th century, Smith is best known for his articles on the medical geography of the Peruvian Andes.