The first serious biography of Francisco Solano López in English for decades, this richly researched book tells the dramatic story of Paraguay's most notorious ruler. Despite the heroic stature he gained after his death, López was a monumentally flawed leader who made the disastrous decisions in 1864 and 1865 to invade Paraguay's powerful neighbors, Brazil and Argentina, initiating the most devastating interstate conflict in South American history. Drawing on a trove of primary sources, James Saeger offers a critical analysis of López's personality and often-irrational persecution of enemies, adherents, and siblings. He traces López's preparation for high public office, work habits, control of his nation and army, propaganda, and execution. Concluding with an examination of López's posthumous rehabilitation, Saeger shows how the tyrant who ruined his nation became its most highly honored hero, crowning a campaign by revisionist publicists from 1870–1936, and a useful symbol for later authoritarians. Still largely unchallenged in Paraguay today, this glorification of a martial president is definitively put to rest in Saeger's meticulous study.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
Jim Saeger has penetrated the dark heart of one of Latin America's most ruinous caudillos, Solano López, with on-site research in Paraguay and simpatico insights. This is auténtico political history, written with grace and from years of study. (Allan R. Millett )
Saeger has provided us with a critical biography of Francisco Solano Lopez that places the man in his times, reveals his character defects, and clarifies how the myth of the nationalistic hero emerged. (Vera Blinn Reber )
Was Francisco Solano Lopez a madman or a national hero? James Saeger answers this question forthrightly, undermining the conventional view and reviving a rational yet novel judgment of the man who dragged his Paraguayan countrymen through a misbegotten war against their far larger and more powerfully endowed neighbors with sad consequences for a population that did not deserve such punishment. Saeger has crafted a thoughtful, solidly documented biography of a deranged figure whose bizarre life is a classic example of the surreal Latin American dictator of literary notoriety. He deploys the sources carefully and fairly and provides his audience, undergraduates and general readers alike, with a compelling story of power gone awry in the pivotal middle decades of nineteenth-century Latin America. An uncompromising new assessment of a long-standing, self-deluding national mythology, this book surpasses biography. It will provoke many a classroom debate on any number of themes. Among them will be the timelessquestion of the dangers of a surrender of public power to irresponsible central authority and the dire national consequences of political self-delusion. (Vincent Peloso )
Saeger's text is an important contribution to a greater understanding of the creation of Paraguayan nationalism in the twentieth century. His work sheds light on one of the darkest periods in Paraguayan history while resurrecting the mindset of one of its 'heroes.' Ultimately, Saeger's work will stimulate more work on the War of the Triple Alliance and the men who led all four nations to the bloody battlefield. (The Americas )
This concise, well-written biography accurately reflects the author's assessment of the man who...has been officially exalted by Paraguayans as the nation's most admired national hero....Francisco Solano Lopez and the Ruination of Paraguay is a masterful portrait of a nation, an extraordinary dictator, and the evolution of a hero cult that can be debated and read with pleasure by scholars and undergraduates alike. (The Latin Americanist )
Was Francisco Solano Lopez a madman or a national hero? James Saeger answers this question forthrightly, undermining the conventional view and reviving a rational yet novel judgment of the man who dragged his Paraguayan countrymen through a misbegotten war against their far larger and more powerfully endowed neighbors with sad consequences for a population that did not deserve such punishment. Saeger has crafted a thoughtful, solidly documented biography of a deranged figure whose bizarre life is a classic example of the surreal Latin American dictator of literary notoriety. He deploys the sources carefully and fairly and provides his audience, undergraduates and general readers alike, with a compelling story of power gone awry in the pivotal middle decades of nineteenth-century Latin America. An uncompromising new assessment of a long-standing, self-deluding national mythology, this book surpasses biography. It will provoke many a classroom debate on any number of themes. Among them will be the timeless question of the dangers of a surrender of public power to irresponsible central authority and the dire national consequences of political self-delusion. (Vincent Peloso )
At last, an informative and well-written biography of Francisco Solano López. Saeger gives us a finely drawn picture of this national 'hero' in the context of his time and place. Bravo! (Susan Socolow )
Saeger has provided us with a critical biography of Francisco Solano Lopez that places the man in his times, reveals his character defects, and clarifies how the myth of the nationalistic hero emerged. (Vera Blinn Reber )
Was Francisco Solano Lopez a madman or a national hero? James Saeger answers this question forthrightly, undermining the conventional view and reviving a rational yet novel judgment of the man who dragged his Paraguayan countrymen through a misbegotten war against their far larger and more powerfully endowed neighbors with sad consequences for a population that did not deserve such punishment. Saeger has crafted a thoughtful, solidly documented biography of a deranged figure whose bizarre life is a classic example of the surreal Latin American dictator of literary notoriety. He deploys the sources carefully and fairly and provides his audience, undergraduates and general readers alike, with a compelling story of power gone awry in the pivotal middle decades of nineteenth-century Latin America. An uncompromising new assessment of a long-standing, self-deluding national mythology, this book surpasses biography. It will provoke many a classroom debate on any number of themes. Among them will be the timelessquestion of the dangers of a surrender of public power to irresponsible central authority and the dire national consequences of political self-delusion. (Vincent Peloso )
Saeger's text is an important contribution to a greater understanding of the creation of Paraguayan nationalism in the twentieth century. His work sheds light on one of the darkest periods in Paraguayan history while resurrecting the mindset of one of its 'heroes.' Ultimately, Saeger's work will stimulate more work on the War of the Triple Alliance and the men who led all four nations to the bloody battlefield. (The Americas )
This concise, well-written biography accurately reflects the author's assessment of the man who...has been officially exalted by Paraguayans as the nation's most admired national hero....Francisco Solano Lopez and the Ruination of Paraguay is a masterful portrait of a nation, an extraordinary dictator, and the evolution of a hero cult that can be debated and read with pleasure by scholars and undergraduates alike. (The Latin Americanist )
Was Francisco Solano Lopez a madman or a national hero? James Saeger answers this question forthrightly, undermining the conventional view and reviving a rational yet novel judgment of the man who dragged his Paraguayan countrymen through a misbegotten war against their far larger and more powerfully endowed neighbors with sad consequences for a population that did not deserve such punishment. Saeger has crafted a thoughtful, solidly documented biography of a deranged figure whose bizarre life is a classic example of the surreal Latin American dictator of literary notoriety. He deploys the sources carefully and fairly and provides his audience, undergraduates and general readers alike, with a compelling story of power gone awry in the pivotal middle decades of nineteenth-century Latin America. An uncompromising new assessment of a long-standing, self-deluding national mythology, this book surpasses biography. It will provoke many a classroom debate on any number of themes. Among them will be the timeless question of the dangers of a surrender of public power to irresponsible central authority and the dire national consequences of political self-delusion. (Vincent Peloso )
At last, an informative and well-written biography of Francisco Solano López. Saeger gives us a finely drawn picture of this national 'hero' in the context of his time and place. Bravo! (Susan Socolow )
About the Author
James S. Saeger is professor of history at Lehigh University.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty good,
By
This review is from: Francisco Solano L-pez and the Ruination of Paraguay: Honor and Egocentrism (Latin American Silhouettes) (Paperback)
A decent portrayal of the history of Paraguay,with emphasis on the character of Lopez; pretty well researched and easy reading.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Critical look at a brutal Caudillo,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Francisco Solano L-pez and the Ruination of Paraguay: Honor and Egocentrism (Latin American Silhouettes) (Paperback)
James Saeger provides a critical look at one of the more brutal dictators in Latin American history and how this Caudillo changed the direction of his country. Francisco Solano Lopez was the only dictator in Latin America to succeed his father and his reign was categorized by extreme paranoia and brutality. This book also goes beyond Loepz to address a variety of issues related to life in Paraguay and explore the concept of honor and how it fits in Life in Latin America. Overall this is a very interesting look into life in Paraguay under Lopez and a great place to start for those interested in the subject.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
better books are out there,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Francisco Solano L-pez and the Ruination of Paraguay: Honor and Egocentrism (Latin American Silhouettes) (Paperback)
I really wanted to like this book. Solano Lopez is such an interesting character, as bad guys so often are. Unfortunately, Saeger doesn't add much to what is already out there. In fact, I own almost all the books he references in his volumes of footnotes (and they are all available from Amazon). The book comes across as a fairly interesting monograph on the psyche of a dictator that was padded to book length through repetition of both assertions of Lopez's defects and factoids that were interesting the first time they came up in the text. A minor nit-pick is that there are some snarky comments about Thomas Whigham letting Lopez off easy in his book (although that doesn't prevent Saeger from citing Whigham's work frequently).
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical
- Books > History > Americas > Central America
- Books > History > Americas > South America > Paraguay
- Books > History > Americas > United States
- Books > History > World
- Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences
