Customer Reviews

Revolution!: South America and the Rise of the New Left

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

 

 

This is the best book so far on recent political developments in South America. Although concise at 249 pages, it provides answers to the most important questions raised and a fair and objective interpretation of well documented events. Having lived and worked in Ecuador and followed political developments there over the past five years, I can attest to the accuracy of the data presented and the clarity and objectivity of the interpretations. One might not consider these developments "revolutionary", but Kozloff describes them accurately and well.

This book is packed with information about the changing social and political situation in 6 major South American countries. Personal observations and reflections are woven throughout, as well as interviews with a wide range of characters. The sea change in our hemisphere is one of the major events of this time in history, but has been largely ignored or misunderstood by our media. Revolution: South America and the Rise of the New Left is an invaluable contribution to a discussion which has just begun.

Kozloff is a respected historian in the field of Latin America, and has published other books with which to supplement "Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left." I am currently using the text as a student participating in the Model Organization of American States and to be sure the text provides ample historical figures with which to work. The book gives an appropriate, if abbreviated, historical background on the histories of Latin America's new leftist nations (Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela mostly) and cites these historical occurrences with contemporary social, political, and economic movements.
The book works well for those wishing to obtain knowledge of what drives these leftist movements, as Latin America is an exceptionally polarized region (save moderates like Brazil and Argentina). For those aligned with the political left and familiar with Latin America some of the information is obvious, but Kozloff also provides fresh insight on the historical nature of these left-shifted movements. For those more aligned with the right, Kozloff's text may be even more beneficial. Commonly, Latin America is consistently viewed as an area of perpetual contemporary happenings, and many disregard the immediate past (mid 20th - 1990) as a time period of "lost years." Kozloff rejects this notion and provides little known (and unfortunately rarely cared about) historical findings that have help foment an anti-right viewpoint by the Latin American proletariat. To put this in perspective; in Latin America, Obama is center-right, while George Bush was far-right. Political concepts of socialism are very strong amongst much of the Latin American popular classes.
Most importantly, Kozloff's text is easy to read. It does not bog the reader with 'ivory-tower' sentence structure or specialized vocabulary. For those who wish to read from 'cover-to-cover' they will find a well organized and informative historical work. For those wishing to expand their knowledge base in certain areas, the book is well indexed and readily appropriate for scholars looking to perform secondary source research.

It is nearly impossible to find an objective account of South American politics. This book comes closer than any other book I have found.

As a relatively leftist individual with a lot of ties to Latin America and Latin American politics, I enjoyed this book deeply. It provides a great deal of historical information about the US and Western influence on the continent that is second to none. Coverage of Chavez is also good. The only thing that keeps it from getting five stars for me is the failure to differentiate between leaders like Chavez and Morales. Opinion on the ground about freedom to dissent and engage in grassroots activity in Venezuela and Bolivia are strikingly different. The autor speaks of taking private car "due to security and time concerns" in areas where i have regularly taken the subway or local transport, even as a blond haired green eyed german/US citizen.

Despite its limitations, it's a great read, accessible, and a good followup to the classic "Open Veins of Latin America."

Having lived in the region for over a decade I have a pretty good knowledge of the events going on around me. I bought this book hoping it would fill in some gaps in my personal knowledge of past and current events in South America. I noticed that many pertinent facts were omitted as the book immediately began making Hugo Chavez look as good as it possibly could. I am apolitical (I don't take sides in the local politics), but this book seemed so much like slanted propaganda to me that I didn't waste my time reading through the whole thing. I would not recommend this book if you are interested in an accurate picture of South America.