Argentine Caudillo: Juan Manuel de Rosas, is John Lynch's new edition of his 1981 book, shortened for classroom use. The figure of Juan Manual de Rosas dominates the history of Argentina in the first half of the nineteenth century. Charles Darwin, w
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
John Lynch is Emeritus Professor of Latin American History at the University of London. He spent most of his academic career at University College, and then from 1974 to 1987 as Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies. The main focus of his work has been Spanish America in the period 1750–1850. [wikipedia]
Although not exactly overly exciting, this work of Argentinean history presents a digestible yet thorough account of Juan Manuel de Rosa's rise and maintenance of power in Buenos Aires. It also offers a clear understanding of concepts vital to Latin American history, such as caudillos and systems of patronage.
Había leído un libro espectacular de John Lynch llamado "Masacre en las pampas". Encaré esta biografía de Rosas en una época en la que estaba muy metido en el tema de la historia argentina. Iba bien, pero cuando se tienen muchos libros y poco tiempo para leer, sucede que uno se pone quisquilloso. Volvió a su lugar en el estante.
Rosas was the leader of Argentina from around 1830 to the early 1850's. He ran the country with an iron fist, which included death squads. This is a basic bio of his life that did not go into great detail as to what made him do what he did on a local, national or international level. During this time there were two main groups, the Federalists and the Unitarianists. Rosas was a Federalist and wanted to keep Argentina a loose federation of states with Buenos Aires as the entire power base and the rest of the country as colonies or weak provinces. By the early 1850's his power eroded and his base left him and he was forced to flee to Great Britain where he spent the remaining 25 years of his life working on his farm. An ok bio, not great and not indepth.
A good read about an important figure in Argentine history. Although a dry look at his administration of the country it is short and to the point. The two points I love about this book, it wasn't a text book. The book went straight through his life. The only thing I found too short was the coverage of his time in exile.