Sandino's Daughters: Testimonies of Nicaraguan Women in Struggle [Paperback]

Margaret Randall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1995

First published in 1981 in the wake of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) revolution in Nicaragua, Sandino's Daughters can now be seen not as a triumph of revolutionary ideals, but as a triumph of the spirit. Through a series of interviews with participants at all levels in the resistance, Margaret Randall recounts the lives of ordinary women who became pillars of strength and perseverance during their decades-long involvement in the Sandinista struggle against the Somoza dictatorship. Believing firmly that women's liberation was inextricably linked with national liberation, many of these women were in the vanguard of the movement inspired by Augusto Sandino. At the peak of revolutionary activity, women from all classes and backgrounds comprised 30 percent of the Sandinista army. For many of these women, politics became one with the personal. Hindsight perhaps offers the greatest irony of the women's alliance with the FSLN in the fact that it was a woman, Violeta Chamorro, who challenged and defeated the Sandinistas in the free elections of 1990. Though lured by the revolutionary quixotism of a promise that lasted slightly more than a decade, the women of Sandino's Daughters will stand as a monument to all those who yearn to be free.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This edition of Randall's 1981 book, based on interviews with women who were active in the Sandinista party, includes a new preface.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813522145
• ISBN-13: 978-0813522142
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > History > Americas > Central America > Nicaragua

More About the Author

I am a poet, essayist, photographer, feminist and social activist, born in New York City (1936), lived for many years in Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua, and returned to the U.S. in 1984. I now live in Albuquerque, New Mexico with my partner of many years, the painter Barbara Byers. I travel widely to read and lecture. Recent books include TO CHANGE THE WORLD: MY YEARS IN CUBA (memoir, with photos), and STONES WITNESS, THEIR BACKS TO THE SEA, and MY TOWN (poetry, with photographs). Soon to be released: AS IF THE EMPTY CHAIR / COMO SI LA SILLA VACIA (poems in tribute to the disappeared of Latin America, in bilingual edition, translations by Leandro Katz and Diego Guerra), FIRST LAUGH (essays), SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THE CORNFIELDS, and RUINS (poems, with photos). The desert of the U.S. Southwest is my spiritual home, and ancient ruins--here and in other parts of the world--increasingly my greatest source of inspiration. Visit my web page at www.margaretrandall.org for a more detailed biography, curriculum vita, up-to-date information on my books and to view four ever-evolving portfolios of my photographic images, as well as current news about where and when I will be reading my work.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read!, January 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sandino's Daughters: Testimonies of Nicaraguan Women in Struggle (Paperback)

Sandino's daughters is required reading for anyone who wants to understand the history of the Nicaraguan revolution and for feminists everywhere! The stories in this book are sometimes painful, sometimes triumphant, but always powerful. This is a classic and a beautiful book.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting reading, but very, very dated., July 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sandino's Daughters: Testimonies of Nicaraguan Women in Struggle (Paperback)

Randall's examination of the role women played in the Nicaraguan revolution is interesting for its unique look at a fairly commonplace civil war fought in the klieg lights of the Cold War. The author interviewed many women who had spent years working with and for the FSLN and later became involved in the Sandanista government.

That the book was first published in 1981, so soon after the Sandanistas assumed power and before the term "Contras" had become ubiquitous, gives it an eery, time-warp feel. Read from the perspective of 1999, the frequent use of words like "comrade", "cells", and "revolutionary struggle" seems rather quaint.

This book is not really journalism in the traditional sense, as the author has little interest in exploring the possible government-related problems of post-Somoza Nicaragua. But the overall reading experience does reinforce the old adage that journalism is the first draft of history.

In short, Sandino's Daughters is worthwhile for those readers who want a better feel for the ideological mood of Central America in the early 1980s, and who are interested in how non-traditional revolutionaries (i.e., women) played a significant role.