Wars of Independence in Spanish America - History Book on Latin American Revolutions | Perfect for Students, Historians & Latin American Studies Enthusiasts

Christon Archer has assembled an interesting collection of articles and contemporary documents that provide a thematic approach to the era of the Spanish American Wars of Independence. Archer introduces the volume with an excellent review of the historiography of the subject, with an historical framework for the period and a fine overview and interpretation of these crucial years. In a separate article, Brian Hamnett offers a perceptive overview of the period and of the Spanish reaction to the popular insurrections in America. A section on New Spain provides a close-up view of the struggle at the local level, with articles by Virginia Guedea on the capture of an insurgent courier and by Peter Guardino on the war in Guerrero, along with a counterinsurgency order from a Spanish officers in Mexico and a report on the revolts by Viceroy Apodaca. On South America, Archer devotes considerable attention to Simón Bolívar, including a contemporary description of Simón Bolívar's revolt by Major George Flinter and an 1815 report from a Spanish officer urging conciliatory measures to maintain the loyalty of the local populace in Venezuela, followed by contemporary but opposing views of Bolívar by Generals Daniel O'Leary and Ducoudray Holstein. This is followed by an article by Stephen Sloan on the Morillo expedition and the Riego Revolt, 1815-20. Also in the South American section is General O'Leary's description of the meeting of Bolívar and San Martín at Guayaquil and Bolívar's subsequent dealings with Perú. A final section entitled "The Defeat of Spain in the Americas" includes Timothy Anna's astute account of the "fall of Royalist Peru," Rebecca Earle's description of the horrible toll taken by disease in the wars, and Margaret Woodward's informative discussion of the difficulties of Spanish Army service during the Wars for Independence. The volume concludes with a brief, but very useful bibliographical essay. Lamentably, there is no index. While the volume is by no means a comprehensive collection on the period, it does give considerable insight and knowledge on the nature and consequences of the wars of independence.