Kathleen Hagen's Reviews > Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
by Eduardo Hughes Galeano
by Eduardo Hughes Galeano
Open Veins of Latin America, by Eduardo Galeano, with a foreword by Isabel Allende, narrated by Jonathan Davis, produced by Audible Inc., and downloaded from audible.com.
The publisher’s note says it as well and better than I can:
Since its U.S. debut a quarter-century ago, this brilliant text has set a new standard for historical scholarship of Latin America. It is also an outstanding
political economy, a social and cultural narrative of the highest quality, and perhaps the finest description of primitive capital accumulation since Marx.Rather
than chronology, geography, or political successions, Eduardo Galeano has organized the various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns
of five centuries of exploitation. Thus he is concerned with gold and silver, cacao and cotton, rubber and coffee, fruit, hides and wool, petroleum, iron,
nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum ore, nitrates, and tin. These are the veins which he traces through the body of the entire continent, up to the Rio
Grande and throughout the Caribbean, and all the way to their open ends where they empty into the coffers of wealth in the United States and Europe.Weaving
fact and imagery into a rich tapestry, Galeano fuses scientific analysis with the passions of a plundered and suffering people. An immense gathering of
materials is framed with a vigorous style that never falters in its command of themes. All readers interested in great historical, economic, political,
and social writing will find a singular analytical achievement, and an overwhelming narrative that makes history speak, unforgettably.This classic is now
further honored by Isabel Allende's inspiring introduction. Universally recognized as one of the most important writers of our time, Allende once again
contributes her talents to literature, to political principles, and to enlightenment.
The publisher’s note says it as well and better than I can:
Since its U.S. debut a quarter-century ago, this brilliant text has set a new standard for historical scholarship of Latin America. It is also an outstanding
political economy, a social and cultural narrative of the highest quality, and perhaps the finest description of primitive capital accumulation since Marx.Rather
than chronology, geography, or political successions, Eduardo Galeano has organized the various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns
of five centuries of exploitation. Thus he is concerned with gold and silver, cacao and cotton, rubber and coffee, fruit, hides and wool, petroleum, iron,
nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum ore, nitrates, and tin. These are the veins which he traces through the body of the entire continent, up to the Rio
Grande and throughout the Caribbean, and all the way to their open ends where they empty into the coffers of wealth in the United States and Europe.Weaving
fact and imagery into a rich tapestry, Galeano fuses scientific analysis with the passions of a plundered and suffering people. An immense gathering of
materials is framed with a vigorous style that never falters in its command of themes. All readers interested in great historical, economic, political,
and social writing will find a singular analytical achievement, and an overwhelming narrative that makes history speak, unforgettably.This classic is now
further honored by Isabel Allende's inspiring introduction. Universally recognized as one of the most important writers of our time, Allende once again
contributes her talents to literature, to political principles, and to enlightenment.
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