Revolution!: South America and the Rise of the New Left

by Nikolas Kozloff

The highly-regarded author of the first biography of Hugo Chavez brings his considerable expertise to assess the left-leaning regimes in South America. In this insightful and timely examination, Nikolas Kozloff discusses the hot-button issues of energy integration, free trade agendas, culture wars and South America's emerging role as a new political bloc, and how these tectonic political shifts will affect the United States. As Venezuela opposes U.S. militarization in the Andes and Bolivia fights a U.S.-fueled drug war, Kozloff looks to the future and what the U.S. must do to maintain these vital economic and political allies.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent over view of recent South American developments in the areas of the military, society and economy.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be educational and resourceful in terms of dates, events, and major players in South American political history, however I do take notice of the clear biases in the book. While I'm aware this is the product of a left-leaning author and it is to be expected, I felt it necessary to do extracurricular research to understand the full picture. Outside of that issue, I also felt there were some sections of the book that were poorly organized and left me asking "wait what?". The author brought up previously mentioned figures with little context, leaving me flipping through pages to try and remember who they were. There were also a few paragraphs that came a little out of left field in terms of the actual topic of discussion feeling irrelevant to the rest of the chapter. Overall, not a bad book, but certainly one you have to look at with a close eye.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

One is tempted to announce a new literary genre: that of the radical-minded gringo who totes his reporter's notebook around sultry South American capitals to get to the bottom of whether the continent's revolutionary sex appeal is more rhetoric or reality. Just below the surface seem to be lurking riddles like, how is it that poor Bolivian peasants could stick it to the elite by pushing Evo Morales into the presidency (twice!), while popular forces in the US haven't even been able to coax Obama into backing a health plan with a "robust public option" (whatever that means)?

While short on in-depth analysis, Kozloff's journey is a solid introduction to the restless continent's political promise and pitfalls, and he avoids falling into easy answers about Chavez and whether the South American political swing to the left is really everything it's cracked up to be. Those who follow the region closely won't find much that's new here, though others may find this a suitable introductory text.

[X · Rating 2 out of 5]

Less of a primer, more of an expanded look at S. America (particularly Venezuela and its chavistas). The organization of the book needs help; articles/interviews seem pasted together haphazardly.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a weird semi-fondness for reading about leftist governments in Latin America. Go figure.

[Ezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, but poorly structured and poorly written.