Customer Reviews

Nicaragua: Revolution in the Family

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This is, without a doubt, the most objective and well-rounded book on the Nicaraguan Revolution of 1979. It is also an extraordinary example of investigative journalism!

Another good book about the Nicaragua revolution. This is dated by a few years since it was written in 1985. Christian does a nice job of detailing the why and hows of the conflict from the Somoza era to the first Sandanista election. She also does a nice summary history of Sandino. Sandino was not a Communist, and at first did not oppose U.S. intervention. Later he did and also led a Robin Hood type of existence. This book did not have any pictures, and I feel most good history and current affairs books should. This was the only short coming of the book.

This is nice readable book about the conflict. Kinzer's book about the conflict covers the entire affair. Both reporters work for the New York Times. I felt Christian's book was more critical of the Sandanistas (FSLN).

This book gave history that I always wondered about, but never understood. She tries to cover origins of actions in this text, confusing or not. She is fairly good about making her subjective views fairly obvious, so that if you don't agree with her, you can disagree without sacrificing too many of the facts.

The Nicaraguan revolution was perceived to be motivated by some key obvious factors:the need to overthrow a dictator, the need to foster equality for all, and the need to create a democracy. Shirley Christian was the only foreign journalist who captured the nuances of the revolt by pointing out how personalities, family quarrels, and social class influenced the direction and depth of revolutionary change. The insight that makes the most impact--in my view--relates to the role that social class has on revolutionary incentives. Many Sandinista leaders that grew up poor showed that their ideological aspirations were secondary to their social aspirations. Class envy became a strong undercurrent in what, on the surface, were ideological battles. Little by little, the Sandinista leaders who came from the bourgeoisie were marginalized in favor of those who came from poverty and who 20 years later behave like the new rich. This book explains in detail the intricate family and social connections and their implications for the behavior of the Sandinista Government. This pattern of behavior can be seen in other countries and other revolutions where social envy trumped ideology. A great read.

This book is the only work about Nicaragua I would recommend. Sadly she did not follow up with a second volume.If she had, she would have given readers the opportunity to truly receive an unbiased view of the effect that the 1979 revolution has had upon the lives of the people of Nicaragua these past three decades.

A factually accurate account of the revoultion in Nicaragua with precise details l the majors players(both people and countries). Reads like a text book.