Description
Book SynopsisWhen duelling became widespread in early twentieth-century Uruguay, legislators facing this dilemma chose the unique and radical path of legalization. This book vividly explores how the only country in the world to decriminalize duelling managed the tension between these informal but widely accepted “gentlemanly laws” and its own criminal code.
Trade Review“Uruguay is an attractive test case for a public sphere-centered political history. This book offers an engaging and productive way to approach that history from what would appear to be a side angle (the duel) but is in reality its central manifestation (the role of the press in public life).” Pablo Piccato, ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America
“Profundo y sutil, The Pen, the Sword, and the Law muestra la adopción del duelo como práctica moderna [y] ofrece al lector una interpretación luminosa de su persistencia en la larga duración y de su ocaso, así como de la esfera pública y de la política del Uruguay moderno.” Sandra Gayol, Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe
“Detailed and written in an engaging style, the book will hold appeal for legal historians and for scholars of the press and state-building in Latin America.” The Americas
