Customer Reviews

Tragedy of Paraguay (Latin American Adventure Series)

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An excellent older book about the little known War of the Triple Alliance. The war pitted Francisco Solano Lopez and his Paraguay against Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Lopez was a dictator of the caliber of Saddam. In fact, Lopez had his two brothers shot, and had his sisters and mother whipped. What a dictator. Phelps takes an objective view of the dictator and the circumstances he and his country faced in the 1864-1870 period.
Phelps puts a little more into his book than other authors on this same subject. First, he talks about the heritage of the Jesuits and how they affected Paraguay. In this book, he also talks of the conspiracy of the American Ambassdor Washburn and his alleged plots against the dictatorship. These all add color and insight into the plot of the book. Finally he talks how this war was also linked to the two other major wars on the continent of South America. Phelps provides a good study of the war and Paraguay's history.
This is an interesting read on a little known war. The first part of the book drags, but once you hit the conspiracy portion of the book, it flies. A most interesting read.