Sandinista: Carlos Fonseca and the Nicaraguan Revolution [Paperback]

Matilde Zimmermann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0822325950 | ISBN-13: 978-0822325956

“A must-read for anyone interested in Nicaragua—or in the overall issue of social change.”—Margaret Randall, author of SANDINO'S DAUGHTERS and SANDINO'S DAUGHTERS REVISITED 

Sandinista is the first English-language biography of Carlos Fonseca Amador, the legendary leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front of Nicaragua (the FSLN) and the most important and influential figure of the post–1959 revolutionary generation in Latin America. Fonseca, killed in battle in 1976, was the undisputed intellectual and strategic leader of the FSLN. In a groundbreaking and fast-paced narrative that draws on a rich archive of previously unpublished Fonseca writings, Matilde Zimmermann sheds new light on central themes in his ideology as well as on internal disputes, ideological shifts, and personalities of the FSLN.
The first researcher ever to be allowed access to Fonseca’s unpublished writings (collected by the Institute for the Study of Sandinism in the early 1980s and now in the hands of the Nicaraguan Army), Zimmermann also obtained personal interviews with Fonseca’s friends, family members, fellow combatants, and political enemies. Unlike previous scholars, Zimmermann sees the Cuban revolution as the crucial turning point in Fonseca’s political evolution. Furthermore, while others have argued that he rejected Marxism in favor of a more pragmatic nationalism, Zimmermann shows how Fonseca’s political writings remained committed to both socialist revolution and national liberation from U.S. imperialism and followed the ideas of both Che Guevara and the earlier Nicaraguan leader Augusto César Sandino. She further argues that his philosophy embracing the experiences of the nation’s workers and peasants was central to the FSLN’s initial platform and charismatic appeal.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Good English language historical studies of modern Nicaragua can be counted on one hand. Joining this elite group, Zimmermann’s well-researched, -organized, and -written book focuses on the most important (yet oft-misunderstood) figure in the FSLN insurgency of the 1960s and 1970s, Carlos Fonseca. As such, it is welcome, indeed.”—Thomas W. Walker, Ohio University

“In this century we have had to look hard not only at the great struggles for justice but at the lives of the men who led those struggles. In this well-researched biography of Carlos Fonseca, founder and indisputable leader of the FSLN until his death in battle two years before Somoza’s defeat, Matilde Zimmermann gives us a compelling portrait of someone obsessed with detail, puritanical but caring, brilliant and determined. Zimmermann asks the difficult questions and her answers are sometimes surprising. A must read for anyone interested in Nicaragua—or in the overall issue of social change.”—Margaret Randall, author of SANDINO'S DAUGHTERS and SANDINO'S DAUGHTERS REVISITED 

“Zimmermann does an excellent job explaining the real content of the FSLN’s internal differences, going a long way beyond the very schematic and surface readings that have appeared thus far. It is a pioneering effort and our understanding of the Sandinista revolution is substantially enriched by this study.”—Barry Carr, LaTrobe University

About the Author

Matilde Zimmermann was a Nicaragua-based journalist in the years immediately following the 1979 revolution and worked with the Sandinista regional government in the northern Atlantic Coast in the late 1980s. She is currently Professor of History at Sarah Lawrence College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press Books (January 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822325950
• ISBN-13: 978-0822325956
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #619,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > History > Americas > Central America > Nicaragua

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just tell me what happened, I'll form my own opinion, April 2, 2001

By 

Mike Wagner (Newport, VT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sandinista: Carlos Fonseca and the Nicaraguan Revolution (Paperback)

This book pulls off a difficult feat, providing a balanced, neutral account of a subject about which supporters and opponents usually speak in strident, propagandistic terms.

Because of the absence of any preachy rhetoric, and the reliance on first-hand interviews and actual source documents, the author delivers a compelling portrait of a leader whose faithfulness to pure idealism in a struggle against a seemingly unstoppable evil system can be compared to that of Churchill, Gandhi, and King.

The Sandinistas were not the only group that took to the hills to arouse the populace in Latin America after the successful Cuban revolution, but they were the only group which actually came to power. Dr. Zimmermann's book is the story of the man who was the driving force behind the ideas, organization, strategy and success of their revolution.

She does not flinch from criticizing the Sandinistas for their initial ill-informed and patronizing attitudes toward the indigineous peoples of their country, nor for their slow acceptance of their female compatriots, nor for their many tactical errors and blunders.

Instead, this telling of the story of Fonseca and the Sanidnistas allows the reader to sense the very human feelings which became the basis of their appeal and allowed their success, even after Fonseca's death.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sandinista, October 2, 2003

By 

Francisco E Chamorro (Long Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sandinista: Carlos Fonseca and the Nicaraguan Revolution (Paperback)

Having lived trought the early years of the revolution in Nicaragua, althouhg just a child I got a first hand view of some of the struggles and dangers of the revolution. Because I was only a child I was not able to fully grasp the grand scheme of things and now as an adult I decided to begin reading about the revolution in Nicaragua and stubled upon this book.

The book gives a clear, no nonsense account of Carlos Fonseca. Who he was, how he was raised and what he stood for over the course of his life. A clear chronological order of events into his life is presented as well as the struggles the young rag tag band of rebels went trought.

If want to read an unbiased account into the revolution in Nicaragua and the role Carlos Fonseca played as leader of the FSLN then read this book. For me it shed light on some of the missing pieces about the revolution, the struggle and the ultimate outcome of the FSLN after the death of Fonseca.

Good reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars Meticulously researched, brilliantly written, October 20, 2011

By 

S. Chavez "Latin Americanist Extraordinaire" (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sandinista: Carlos Fonseca and the Nicaraguan Revolution (Paperback)

I'm spent the better part of the year studying the Nicaraguan Revolution and this is the most detailed and accurate account I've found so far. Coincidentally and luckily, it is also the first book I read on the subject. While there is certainly value in reading the accounts of Borge, Cabezas, Ortega, Belli, etc., Zimmerman sifts through much of the harder-to-find information and provides a game-changing analysis of the FSLN that refutes the Frente's current attempts to portray its origins as social democratic rather than Marxist-Leninist, its inspiration as Scandinavia rather than Cuba.

Carlos Fonseca was one of the great revolutionaries in Latin American history and it is unfortunate that his contributions have been largely ignored outside his home country. Zimmerman's work is instrumental for English-speakers in understanding not only Fonseca's reconciliation of Sandino and Marx, but also the development of the FSLN both under his leadership and after. I also recommend "Obra Fundamental," a collection of Fonseca's works soon to be released on Amazon.