Facundo: Or, Civilization and Barbarism (Penguin Classics)

Ostensibly a biography of the gaucho barbarian Juan Facundo Quiroga, Facundo is also a complex, passionate work of history, sociology, and political commentary, and Latin America's most important essay of the nineteenth century. Itis a study of the Argentine character, a prescription for the modernization of Latin America, and a protest against the tyranny of the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas (18351852). The book brings nineteenth-century Latin American history to life even as it raises questions still being debated todayquestions regarding the civilized city versus the barbaric countryside, the treatment of indigenous and African populations, and the classically liberal plan of modernization.Facundoscelebrated and frequently anthologized portraits ofQuiroga and other colorful characters give readers an exhilarating sense of Argentine culture in the making.

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