by Greg Grandin
First published 2010
Greg Grandin tackles the pervasive political violence that swept Latin America throughout the twentieth century. His collection of essays spans from the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to the terror campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s across Central America, the Southern Cone, and the Andes. Grandin contends that historians have overlooked critical questions about the nature and significance of this violence, despite its familiar patterns of enforcing control, creating social divisions, and driving historical transformation. The contributors examine how local, regional, national, and international power structures intersected during this turbulent period. They analyze the back-and-forth between revolutionary movements and their opponents, all playing out under U.S. influence and global power dynamics. Through detailed studies of Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru, the essays provide readers with both the lived experience of political violence and its deeper historical roots and lasting effects.
Genres: history, 20th-century, political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, latin-american-literature, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction, political-thriller
Setting: Central America, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, Southern Cone
Period: 1910s, 1970s, 1980s, 20th Century
456 pages · Hardcover · Duke University Press
Content warnings: violence