Customer Reviews

A History of Chile, 1808-1994 (Cambridge Latin American Studies)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This review is more of a response to two of the other reviews thus far. One review writes completely of the chilean road to socialism section of the book (and everything thereafter in the book), and never mentions anything before this last section of the book, despite that section only being the last 80 pages, thus leaving the first 330 pages to obscurity; it seems as though this reviewer read the last 80 pages of the book and left the rest untouched. Beyond this, the section the reviewer commented on was unbelievably balanced, pointed out clearly the economic difficulties of the Unidad Popular era, but also pointed out the money dedicated to social programs.

As this same reviewer wrote, it is important for foreigners to study the history of Chile. And as Collier wrote in the introducion, "a fresh eye can sometimes be cast over the changing chilean scene from outside" (p. xv). From this perspective, I think Collier and Sater do a wonderful job covering the history of chile from 1808 to 2002. In fact, they have done such a good job that I have seen this book (in spanish translation) on college syllabi in Chile.

Another reviewer wrote that the book semmed as though it was "written by an undergraduate: A compilation of a bunch of facts from many sources (usually without a reference)." Im not sure what this person knows about Simon Collier, but he was visiting professor in chile in 1994 and 2002 and was so important to the writing of Chile from outside of chile that in 2000, he recieved from the Chilean state la orden Bernardo O'Higgins en el grado de 'Comendador', and was a Miembro Correspondiente de la Academia Chilena de la Historia. When he died, a book and conference (in Chile) were due to his great importance in Chilean history.

The reviewer also remarks on the lack of citations, although in the introduction they write exactly what the book will foot note and what they will not. With the amount of imformation in this book, it is comforting to have a well organized at the end of the book on suggested further reading with comments by the authors on most books suggested.

Overall, this book, although dry at times (as a history student, I know that it is hard to find a history book that doesnt drift into dryness every now and then), was enjoyable and gives any person that wants a general overview of the history of chile, just that: a general overview. And Collier and Sater knew this, as they wrote in their introduction: "Our aim in this book is to present a general account of Chile's history as an independent nation-state for English-language readers...." The suggested reading secion is great for furthering your insight into chilean history, as well. Also, the added sections on "culture" add a lot to the book, such as the section that talks about Nueva Cancion, something any person visiting Chile should know about (I have been in gatherings here in Chile where the entire night was spent singing Nueva Cancion music).

As some of the reviews indicate, recent history of Chile is controversial and an effort like this one will not find universal approval. The authors have written a concise, readable history of Chile for the general reader (e.g. without giving sources to everything they cite). The stated aim of the authors is to give a "basic narrative of political events" combined with "descriptions of broader economic and social tendencies" and occasional sections on culture. I think they succeeded well. Throughout the work, the authors'quest for fairness shines through.

The work is very readable with occasional instances of wit and humor, but the writing is not brilliant and fascinating. The very last chapter was added in the second edition and is not completely integrated, but still brings up the history of Chile to almost the present. Despite rare typo's, the editing is competent.

I personally found it a good read about a fascinating topic.

Great book. I was born in Chile, 66 years ago. So to me the book is a very detailed narrative of main events that constitute the history of Chile. A language ease to read.

If you plan on traveling to Chile, I strongly recommend reading this book. Puts Chile's return to democracy in context and Pinochet in his place.

Please do not be skewed by the last reviewer "Juan Alberto Diaz Wiechers". His review is completely biased and clearly shows his right-wing take on Chilean history and the socialist movement. It is precisely this kind of mentality that emphasizes the strong need to read an unbiased review of the history of Chile. "Juan Alberto Diaz Wiechers" tries to evoke a sentiment that the coup of 1973 was a legal and democratic action. It was completely non-democratic and completely illegal. Salvador Allende was a democratically elected president chosen by a free people in a fair election. And his comment that instead of the 3,000 that died because of the military government (as if that is very little), millions would have died under socialism, screams of the fascist propaganda that "communists eat babies". The United States has even expressed regret for the actions taken in Chile in the early 70's. Colin Powell stated that those were dark days in the history of the CIA and the foreign policy of the United States government towards Latin America (specifically the supporting of Operation Condor). These policies actually increased anti-US sentiment that continues to be felt to this day in Latin America.
I did read this book and found it a bit dry but VERY informative for its stated purpose. I would recommend it, although I do believe there are some better readers on the history of Chile. The books that I have read that bring the history of Chile to life in a more vivid manner have been written in Spanish and not yet translated. Well thank you for reading.

I only want to inform you that this book was translated to spanish by Milena Grass K. and published in 1998 by Cambridge University Press in 1998. ISBN 84 8323 033 X rústica

It is very important that foreigners study the history of Chile. But sometimes it is better to know the reality of the country and have an impartial view towards recent historical facts. For instance, the book does not tell how Alende's regime was driving the country to become a communist state, and how the extremist forces of the "Unidad Popular" were preparing a civil war against the bourgeois institutions. The military uprising of September 1973 was invoked by the Chilean Supreme Court and the Chilean parliament, as the only way to avoid that my country would be turned into a second Cuba. That is the real fact, and the origin of the military government. Said government commited some abuses, but restored Chile's economy and by its own will reestablished democracy. And we, Chileans, will always remember that were saved from a communist-started civil war, which would have brought not 3.000 (the total number of victims of represion) but millions of deads. So, when foreign historians write regarding Chile, they should be more careful when taking into consideration the true realities which we lived in the sixties and seventies.

This book is very hard to read because of its dullness.

As I read it, I was thinking that the book read as if written by an undergraduate: A compilation of a bunch of facts from many sources (usually without a reference) and with some remarks that lack any analysis (like blaming on neo-liberal policies the increase in Smog in the city of Santiago (!)) -if only we had followed the soviet union, we would have clean air-.

This doesn't look like the work of a scholar (or of someone with a talent for writing for that matter), but rather of a couple of foreigners with an interest in Chile who said, "hey, we could write a book about this country".

The real problem with the book is not its bias (or lack of it) but rather that it is just very hard to get oneself to read through it because it lacks insights, parallels with other situations in the world, witty remarks, etc. (i.e. what makes good books good).

It reminded me of why I hated history in high school.