Customer Reviews

Violence in Colombia : The Contemporary Crisis in Historical Perspective (Latin American Silhouettes)

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Of the many books on the Colombian conflict out there, this is the best single source on the contemporary crisis that I have encountered. It gives a balanced approach to the conflict that demonstrates its complex sociopolitical and economic elements, without engaging in polemical and biased attacks against either the United States or the Colombian aristocracy (though they both certainly have played their parts). In this conflict, nobody is entirely innocent nor entirely culpable. There is ample information in here for both the expert and the uninitiated. The chapters that I found to be the most illuminating were those of Sanchez, Bejarno, Restrepo, and Bergquist - though every chapter was excellent. All of the book's authors are Colombia's finest social and political theorists, and this provides an excellent springboard for their other works. Highly, highly recommended...