Description
Book SynopsisThis lively compilation of testimonies, journalism, scholarship, political tracts, literature, and illustrations conveys Paraguay's rich history and cultural heritage, as well as its struggles against underdevelopment, foreign intervention, poverty, inequality, and authoritarianism.
Trade Review“Peter Lambert and Andrew Nickson have written a wonderfully engaging and useful text that addresses Paraguay’s fascinating and complicated history, replete with unique linguistics and national identity, and rich cultural heritage. . . . The lack of information about Paraguay is palpable.Nonetheless, Lambert and Nickson have corrected this oversight with a text that is bound to find an audience with undergraduate students, future Peace Corps volunteers . . . travelers, missionaries, businesspersons, and diplomats.” -- Bridget María Chesterton * A Contracorriente *
“At its best,
The Paraguay Reader puts oppositional texts next to each other, not resolving the cacophony of voices but instead allowing the tensions to stand. As such, the compilation serves as an introductory overview for historians, regionalists, and social scientists; but, as the first English-language text of its kind,
The Paraguay Reader will also be an important text for Paraguayanists.” -- Christine Folch * Hispanic American Historical Review *
“Overall, the editors offer an indispensable guide to an important topic. A must-have for any academic library. Summing up: Essential.” -- K.A. Tyvela * Choice *
“This excellent collection of literary artefacts and historical texts and reportage lifts this veil of mystery and shines a light on the country’s hidden hinterland, providing the reader with genuinely interesting insights into a country and society that is poorly understood in South America itself, let alone in the rest of the world.” -- Gavin O’Toole * Latin American Review of Books *
“Many of the accounts are being made accessible in English for the first time and thus provide an invaluable resource on the subjects treated, one that has no parallel in the current literature. All of the accounts are preceded by introductions that prepare the reader for the historical significance of the piece.” -- Leonard Rinchiuso * Journal of Latin American Geography *
“
The Paraguay Reader is a much needed and therefore welcome contribution to the practically nonexistent field of Paraguayan studies. Anyone who wishes to better understand Paraguay will find this book indispensable.” -- Marcelino Viera-Ramos * The Latin Americanist *
“
The Paraguay Reader is an excellent compilation of literature, folklore, anecdote, reportage and academic research. It illustrates the indomitable capacity of the Paraguayan people.” -- Ed Hart * Sounds and Colours *
"The editors do an admirable job of compiling primary sources and analytical essays on the history, politics, and culture of this small, landlocked, poorly understood nation. Undoubtedly the most comprehensive and accessible introduction to Paraguay available in English,
The Paraguay Reader both explains and complicates the country’s fabled uniqueness." -- Christine Mathias * Ethnohistory *
“For readers seeking an introduction to Paraguayan history and instructors interested in incorporating a tremendous range of source materials in the classroom,
The Paraguay Reader is an excellent resource.” -- Caroline E. Schuster * Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
I. The Birth of Paraguay 11
II. The Nationalist Experiment 53
III. A Slow Recovery 129
IV. From the Chaco War to the Civil War 193
V. Dictatorship and Resistance 235
VI. A Transition in Search of Democracy 321
VII. What Does It Mean to Be Paraguayan? 383
Epilogue: The Impeachment of President Fernando Lugo 451
Suggestions for Further Reading 457
Acknowledgment of Copyright and Sources 463
Index 471
