A History of Chile 1808–2018

by William F. Sater, Simon Collier

As Chile has continued to grow and prosper in the twenty-first century, this new edition of the definitive history of the country brings the story of its political, social and cultural development up to date. It describes how Ricardo Lagos and Michelle Bachelet, both highly educated Socialists, modernized the country and integrated new interests into Chilean political life, and how the billionaire, Harvard-trained economist Sebastian Piñera, who succeeded Bachelet, addressed the problems caused by the 2010 tsunami. In the last twenty years Chile diversified its economy, replaced a number of Pinochet's organizations with more inclusive institutions, cultivated Chilean culture, modernized its constitution, and fomented reconciliation of the various political factions – until economic crisis in early 2018 caused political chaos and occasionally violent public protest. Based on new statistics to measure Chile's economic and social development, this volume celebrates Chile's achievements and dissects its failures.

Kindle Edition

Published October 27, 2022

About the author

William F. Sater is an emeritus professor of history at California State University-Long Beach.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful introduction to Chilean politics and history for the English speaker. It focuses heavily on presidential and party politics, but also uses them as a vehicle to introduce the reader to the undercurrents of Chilean culture, the human and specifically Chilean elements beneath the surface of the seemingly eternal fight between Right and Left. As a general survey I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in Chile.

[Turgut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitive book. Comparable in quality to Enrique Krauze's "Mexico: Biography of a Power" and Louis A. Perez Jr.'s "Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution".