Customer Reviews

A War Betwixt Englishmen: Brazil Against Argentina on the River Plate

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It is said, here in Brazil, that the "Cisplatina War" is an episode that brazilians would rather forget, because of its bitter defeats and unfortunate revelation of hidden truths, as far as this wasn't a defensive war, and our nation loves to punch on the key that brazilian civilization has only its peaceful character. The book deals with a most important issue in South America's history, which is the "Cisplatina War", where Brazil and Argentina fought against each other, trying to incorporate a Spanish-speaking province to their own territory, against its province inhabitants will. It was a draw between Brazil and Argentina, and that province turned into our neighbor country called Uruguai. Well, when we notice that at the same time Belgium was created between France and the Netherlands, we see the huge political importance on what was held here, and why. The "Cisplatina War" was the final breath between portuguese and spanish expansionism on the River Plate, and the book shows pretty well all the important facts connected to it, the "corsair wars", the battles, the campaigns, and mainly the skills, courage and struggle of the Britons (sailors, admirals...) in it, such as John Pascoe Grenfell (who lost an arm against the argentinians) and John Taylor, amongst others... A beautiful point in this book is that it also brings back the name of all british-brazilian naval heros, as far as it is actually taken for granted by most of our historians. You MUST buy it!

Hi, This book suprised me a lot, i started reading it with not much enthusiasm as this is not my favorite history era but i felt it wouldnt hurt to learn a bit more about my own country's history (Argentina). It surpassed my expectations, it is really well written and the reader cant get bored at any time. The missions and actions performed by both navies are incredible, it opened my eyes to this conflict between the newly independent and powerful Empire of Brazil against the smaller and recently independent provinces of the River Plate (Argentina). If you like navy battle stories or are curious about the history of South America you can't miss this book.