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The caudillo of Spanish America was both regional chieftain and, in the turbulent years of the early nineteenth century, national leader. His power base rested on ownership of land and control of armed bands. He was the rival of constitutional rulers and the precursor of modern dictators. His is a dominant figure in Latin American history. John Lynch explores the changing perception of the caudillo - bandit chief, guerrilla leader, republican hero - and examines his multi-faceted role as regional strongman, war leader, landowner, distributor of patronage, and the `necessary gendarme' who maintained social order. Professor Lynch traces the origins and development of the caudillo tradition, and sets it in its contemporary context. His scholarly analysis of this central theme in the history of Spanish America is underpinned by detailed case-studies of four major caudillos: Juan Manuel de Rosas (Argentina), José Antonio Páez (Venezuela), Antonio López de Santa Anna (Mexico), and Rafael Carrera (Guatemala). This is an important contribution to our understanding of political and social structures during the formative period of the nation-state in Spanish America.

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• Preface(p. v)
• List of Maps(p. x)
• Abbreviations(p. xi)
• I Caudillo Structures(p. 1)
• 1 Precursors and Premonitions(p. 3)
• 2 Independence: Nursery of Caudillos(p. 35)
• 3 The New Rulers(p. 84)
• 4 Caudillo State, Nation-State(p. 132)
• 5 The Necessary Gendarme(p. 183)
• II Caudillo Careers(p. 239)
• 6 Juan Manuel De Rosas: Argentina 1829-1852(p. 241)
• 7 José Antonio Paez: Venezuela 1830-1850(p. 275)
• 8 Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna: Mexico 1821-1855(p. 316)
• 9 Rafael Carrera: Guatemala 1837-1865(p. 365)
• 10 The Caudillo Tradition in Spanish America(p. 402)
• Bibliography(p. 439)
• Glossary(p. 456)
• Index(p. 459)

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CHOICE Review

Lynch, a British historian, applies his considerable expertise on the independence and early national periods in Spanish America to create a composite (but not homogeneous) overview of caudillos, the characteristic regional and/or national strongmen of the era. He offers detailed portraits of their archetypes: Rosas (Argentina), P'aez (Venezuela), Santa Anna (Mexico), and Carrera (Guatemala). Rejecting cultural explanations for caudillismo, Lynch traces the political paths of caudillos from the wars of independence to the 1850s, when more sophisticated dictators replaced "primitive" caudillos. He suggests links between this evolution and a variety of socioeconomic transformations that further displaced already disadvantaged popular sectors and enabled caudillos to protect the interests of a conservative oligarchy reacting to liberal attempts at state-making and to maintain social order while claiming to be "populists" and even "nationalists." Lynch's generally unsympathetic portrait of caudillos and amorphous followers as lacking reason does not credit recent attempts to probe popular consciousness. Still, his interpretation, which makes up in provocative ideas what it lacks in analytical coherence, offers a valuable original synthesis of the still largely uncharted history of early republican Spanish America. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty. S. M. Deeds; Northern Arizona University

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

John Lynch is Emeritus Professor of Latin American History at University of London.