Hutchison, Elizabeth Quay, Thomas Miller Klubock, Nara B. Milanich, and Peter Winn, eds.: "The Chile Reader: History, Culture, Politics."(The Paraguay Reader: History, Culture, Politics) (Book review)

• Author: Zentella, Yoly

Hutchison, Elizabeth Quay, Thomas Miller Klubock, Nara B. Milanich, and Peter Winn, eds. The Chile Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2014.

Lambert, Peter and Andrew Nickson, eds. The Paraguay Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013.

The Chile Reader: History, Culture, Politics and The Paraguay Reader: History, Culture, Politics present basic beginnings: European colonization, destruction of indigenous cultures, forced labor, indigenous uprisings, and repression. Such were common beginnings throughout the Americas as a result of European conquest and colonization. Yet what occurs after the period of colonization, the unfolding of capitalist intervention, nation building, ethnic and racial identity building, and the search for democracy evolved in each country differently. Both volumes provide the reader with materials to build an understanding of each country. In addition to primary sources, some published in English for the first time, the readers include black and white photos as well as a few color plates.

Divided into eight sections, The Chile Reader provides a comprehensive portrayal of a people and a nation. Part of this picture is the perspective of Chile as an exceptional country, a model of progress and development among Latin American countries, a...