Book Reviews

Abstract

David S. C. Chu of Institute for Defense Analyses reviews “The Great Depression in Latin America”, by Paulo Drinot and Alan Knight. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Ten papers examine the consequences of the Great Depression in Latin America in terms of the role of the state, party-political competition, and the formation of working-class and other social and political movements, and consider how regional transformations interacted with, and differed from, global processes. Papers discuss the impact of the Great Depression on Argentine society (Roy Hora); Chilean workers and the Great Depression, 1930–38 (Angela Vergara); change with continuity—Brazil from 1930 to 1945 (Joel Wolfe); the Great Depression in Peru (Paulo Drinot and Carlos Contreras); export protectionism and the Great Depression—multinational corporations, domestic elite, and export policies in Colombia (Marcelo Bucheli and Luis Felipe Sáenz); political transition in an age of extremes—Venezuela in the 1930s (Doug Yarrington); indigenista dictators and the problematic origins of democracy in Central America (Jeffrey L. Gould); the character and consequences of the Great Depression in Mexico (Alan Knight); Cuba—depression, imperialism, and revolution, 1920–40 (Gillian McGillivray); and the Great Depression in Latin America—an overview (Knight). Drinot is Senior Lecturer in Latin American History with the Institute of the Americas at University College London. Knight is Professor of the History of Latin America at the University of Oxford.”