Peron and the Enigmas of Argentina

by Robert D. Crassweller

“This is biography-as-history in the best sense of the term. . . .Mr. Crassweller gives us what is perhaps the best single-volume history of 20th-century Argentina: sensitive, urbane, deeply comprehending, written in a style worthy of the most important of historical themes.” ―Mark Falcoff, New York Times Book Review Inevitably, there is much that is enigmatic and generally misunderstood in the tale of Perón, his country, and his civilization. To provide a kind of view from Olympus and a framework for the narrative history that follows, Part I of this book contains brief sketches of what are seen as the enigmas of Argentina and of Perón. The enigmas are, of course, rooted in the past, and the story, intensely human and historical, thus becomes an adventure in time and its interactions in which the past is summoned to elucidate the present.

Genres: History

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Robert Morrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having visited Argentina on both business and personal trips, I've always struggled for the right words to describe this unique culture. The people are very literate yet often superstitious; they are often quite vocal yet still mysterious; they are the world's greatest devotees of psychoanalysis and the creators of one of the most expressive yet enigmatic forms of dance. The author included the word "enigmas" in his title, and after reading this fine work of political and culture history, I've concluded that there are no words to describe Argentine culture: only intuition and emotional connection can lead to any sort of understanding of this amazing place.

The problem that most writers have in trying to understand Argentina is that they try to interpret its history, culture and people through a lens of modern Western civilization. This is not a ridiculous assumption to begin with, because Argentina seems to have all of the cultural structures that westerners are familiar with. Crassweller very explicitly avoids making such assumptions (although he slips a bit with his very critical handling of Yrigoyen's unique and impenetrable leadership style), making the book a much broader and open-minded inquiry into the meaning of things in Argentina. If the reader follows his advice, you'll learn that Peron's ascension to power was only possible in a country where the caudillo is a powerful symbol and that only in Argentina could such a personas Eva Peron have used her deep-seeded bitterness about illegitimacy to transform herself into a viable priestess of the downtrodden. You can judge Juan Peron as a master manipulator and Eva as a drama queen, and while both descriptions are accurate, they diminish the powerful belief in social justice that both Perons unleashed in the people (or used to manipulate the people---again, both sides of the contradiction are true).

Crassweller does an excellent job setting the stage for the drama by giving us an insightful overview of pre-Peron Argentine history, which he uses to establish his major themes. We are left with a very grounded history that provides significant insight into a culture very different from what we expect; one that continues to fascinate and puzzle us to this day.

[Usman Chohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So grateful for having read this book. Has anyone condensed 300 years of a nation's history the way Crassweller does? There are mesmerizing passages dispersed all throughout the book; for example when describing the gaucho as the son whose father gave him "anarchic Spanish individualism and Moorish fatalism" and whose mother gave him "a sense of victim-hood enmeshed with a longing for the earth". Fantastic.

[Glenn Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating bio of Juan Peron. While the writer wanted to bring in some enigmas, he stopped making this part of the book after the first few chapters. As I expected, the thrilling part of his life was over with Eva's life. I was hoping to learn more what Juan accomplished after her death and what his life was like in between presidencies. I did not learn much other than it seemed boring compared to his life before 1953. The writer did not go too deeply into how Peron led or what he truly accomplished. Good, not great. Somewhat helpful, but not very deep.