The leaders of independence movements in early nineteenth-century Latin America had one eye on how they would be remembered by history at the same time as they fought battles, wrote constitutions and negotiated with imperial powers. The first written histories of independence were often penned by retired generals or serving cabinet ministers. History-writing and the making of history were perceived by contemporaries as interlinked and mutually reinforcing processes. Previous anthologies of primary sources from the independence era reflected these origins, reinforcing what Sarah C. Chambers and John Charles Chasteen now see as an inaccurate ‘Great Men’ interpretation of history (p. xi). The work of historians in the last three decades has, of course, largely overturned this vision of independence, and brought the participation of women, indigenous, black, mestizo and pardo groups back into the frame as historical actors, as well as highlighting the role of economic, ideological and demographic factors, and the interventions of external imperial powers (especially Britain, France and the United States) in shaping the disintegration of the Iberian monarchies in the Americas. In this collection of 34 primary sources, the editors attempt to reflect these historiographical shifts by providing ‘access to the words of people, both prominent and humble, who played roles in drawing rooms and on battlefields of the Latin American struggles for independence. Their voices are diverse, their motivations complex, and their stories defy simple heroic narratives of national liberation’ (pp. ix–x). The editors want to give readers who do not speak Spanish or Portuguese the resources to make their own minds up regarding the ‘contradictory birthing pains of these new nations’ (p. xi), particularly ‘elite nationalism, imperial breakdown and popular activism’ (p. xii).
The documents are divided into three parts: ‘The Colonial Experience’, ‘The Crucible of War’ and ‘Nations and Commemorations’. The intention that the book will be used as a stand-alone text by students means that several previously translated, well-known texts are here, often in heavily abbreviated form. The major strength of the book is in its providing access for English-language readers to new texts that had never been translated before. The documents relating to racial politics in Colombia during the 1828 Padilla affair, or the correspondence of Javiera Carrera in exile from Chile, for example, will give such readers the chance to really engage with the interpretations of historians who have worked on the Spanish originals. Other valuable inclusions (and there are many) are the first translation of the war diary of the drummer boy from Oruro, José Santos Vargas, entitled Diario de un comandante de la independencia Americana 1814–1825, and the letters of María Antonia Bolívar, sister of Simón and, as Inés Quintero's work has shown, a hugely influential and significant figure in her own right.
The editors take the bold step of omitting the term ‘creole’ from their documents and presentations, arguing that it ‘obscures important historical meanings’ (p. xiii) and preferring instead to retain usage of americano, and to use ‘European-born Spaniards/Portuguese’ instead of peninsulares. This decision carries two advantages: it generally means staying closer to the original texts, and it helps to break down the artificial divisions between ‘creoles’ and ‘peninsulares’ which characterised some earlier historiography. Consequently, the editors logically prefer to ‘preserve and apply the term América (with an accent), which was what patriotic americanos called their homeland, the region that became Latin America only decades later’ (p. xiv). I applaud this decision, whose disadvantage might be that it discomforts monolingual English-speaking readers who dislike the idea that not every concept can be easily translated to their mother tongue without some loss of context or meaning. The editors have worked together on the translations, which are extremely readable and accurate. Where previous translations already exist, there are sometimes notes to say that they have ‘adapted’ (p. 60), ‘drawn upon’ (p. 231) or been ‘influenced by’ (p. 137) them. On occasions, as in the case of Ricardo Palma's Tradiciones peruanas, it is unclear why the existing translation (in this case, by Helen Lane) has not been used. I would have appreciated a translators’ note to clarify the extent and nature of these revisions; if scholars are going to use these translations in their research, it is important that translators (Chambers and Chasteen foremost among them) are recognised and cited in the proper way.
This book should be the first item on the reading list of any course teaching Latin American history and the independence era. The editors have packed a lot of perspectives into the book which, used carefully by the teacher, will enable a unit to be designed around it so that students can engage critically with the latest research publications. The sources presented on the post-independence period should certainly prompt students to think about the way independence has passed into historical memory across the continent. The Mexican Independence Day speeches, and the extract from Arturo Uslar Pietri's The Red Lances, are brilliant choices in this respect. The scholarly introductions, to the book overall as well as to each section, are magnificent works of synthesis and will allow readers who are new to the subject – as well as those who are well versed in it – to get to grips with the primary sources. This is an excellent and very welcome anthology.
