As this review was written, in advance of the April 2011 presidential elections, Alejandro Toledo's chances of becoming Peru's next president appeared to be fast improving. It is therefore a timely moment for a book on his first term in the job (2001–6), not least because – in common with predecessors like Fernando Belaúnde and Alan García – few would have predicted such an eventuality when his first term ended. For much of his period in office, Toledo was a deeply unpopular president whose public opinion ratings remained in single-digit territory for most of those five years, picking up only at the end when his departure was already in sight.

Ronald Bruce St. John's book therefore helps us re-evaluate Toledo as a political actor. On balance it is a positive account, although the negatives are not swept under the carpet. Toledo is presented as a man with a vision; his problem was that he was not very good at delivering on that vision. He is seen as a genuine democrat who sought to give liberal economics a la peruana a ‘human face’. The book thus seeks to rise above the personal tittle-tattle that characterised much comment on Toledo during his presidency. It also projects very strongly the message that Toledo was seeking to promote in his re-election bid in early 2011.

The book deals with a number of important themes. Prime among these is the difficulty facing countries like Peru, whose comparative advantage lies in extractive industries that provide export and treasury income but which do little to boost employment or encourage the development of other economic sectors. This is particularly problematic in Peru, where the state enjoys limited scope and legitimacy, and where it is highly susceptible to capture by key economic interests. Toledo faced tough challenges in his bid to blend neoliberal economics with the extension of social welfare. As St. John puts it, this involved ‘a difficult balancing act’ (p. 35) between fulfilling pledges to boost employment (‘¡Más trabajo!’ – ‘More work!’ – was Toledo's campaign slogan) and reduce poverty while pursuing policies to attract foreign capital. Macro-economic policy, at least, was oriented by the latter.

After an introductory chapter that introduces Toledo the man, his background and beliefs, St. John dedicates three chapters to the domestic policies of the Toledo administration. The first of these examines the political context, Toledo's views on economic development, and his aspirations to reduce poverty. The second looks at problems of corruption and institutional reform. The third tackles what St. John calls ‘the fight for equality’, including an examination of Toledo's social and ethnic policies and those relating to citizen (in)security.

Some interrelated comments are merited here. Firstly, because the focus is on Toledo, insufficient credit is given to the achievements of the short but crucial Paniagua interim presidency prior to Toledo taking office. Not only was Paniagua responsible for administering free and fair elections in 2001, but it was his administration that set in motion the key reformist impulses which Toledo inherited and then developed. Toledo seems to have even resented Paniagua's contribution, and is quoted by St. John (p. 38) as saying that it deprived him (Toledo) of his political honeymoon. Secondly, more could have been done to explain why, within the first 18 months of his term, so much of that reformist agenda had dissipated, and the book's examination of the opponents of reform and the often underhand methods they used to block it – in the judiciary, the police, the army and so on – could usefully have been developed further. Finally, more could have been said about the deficiencies of Toledo's party, Peru Posible, and indeed about the extreme weakness of the party system as a whole and the implications this has for democracy in Peru. Although St. John mentions the cronyism that characterised Peru Posible, it would be interesting to know much more about how the party operated in practice and the influences that operated within it. As the book points out, it was not just Toledo's shortcomings that undermined his presidency but those of the people around him who jumped on the Toledista bandwagon at the end of the Fujimori period.

It was often pointed out that Toledo struck a very different pose in his foreign relations than in domestic politics, and this comes across clearly in St. John's account. Curiously for a personality who had famously started off life as a shoe-shine boy in provincial Peru, Toledo appeared to be someone much more at home on the international stage than on the local one. The last two chapters of the book deal firstly with his policy towards Peru's neighbours in Latin America – Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile – and subsequently with Toledo's role in projecting Peru further afield, specifically his policy towards key economic partners: the United States, the European Union, and towards China and the Far East. The approach adopted in these chapters is somewhat pedestrian, and there is little here by way of new information, but they provide a useful summary of Peru's foreign relations at this time, describing how, in conjunction with the foreign ministry, Toledo managed to improve Peru's international image following the debacle of the Fujimori regime.

St. John's book will be a slight disappointment to those seeking to probe behind what is already known about the Toledo administration, particularly in understanding the relations of power between different actors as Peru moved back into a more democratic orbit. The text is based overwhelmingly on secondary sources, mostly standard US and Peruvian newspaper and magazine articles. Added to these are a number of interviews, mainly with Toledo himself (interviewed on eight separate occasions) and key members of his cabinet and entourage. These add value to the text, though their tone is self-justificatory rather than critical. It would have been useful to interview other figures not so closely associated with the regime. The text is well written and presented and the book contains photographs of Toledo, often in traditional garb and embracing grateful citizens and smiling children.