Review by Choice Review
Historian Eller (Yale) takes on a number of tasks, not the least of which is a background and description of the Spanish 1861-65 reoccupation and annexation of the Dominican Republic. She focuses on the relationship of the conceptions of personhood, citizenship, and humanity to factors such as elite/financial status, degree of liberalism, and race, a relationship that can dictate subsequent historiographic divergences. Sentiments such as being pro- or anti-Spanish annexation (or, for that matter, pro- or anti-Haitian) depend on the placement and views of both the person being asked and the questioner. In this light, Eller's fine ethnography in the sections leading up to the Spanish annexation makes the annexation chapters--which accurately pinpoint the inherent philosophical, military, and administrative weaknesses of the Spanish occupiers--more readable and easy to understand. For example, those resisting the Spanish occupation often felt the idea of being taken over by a nation still practicing slavery was abominable. In doing away with simplistic, jingoistic evaluations of relationships between and among Caribbean actors, Eller allows readers to better appreciate the relationship of the eventual Dominican overthrow of the Spanish annexation to Puerto Rican and Cuban struggles for independence from Spain. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --William Javier Nelson, Shaw University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
