Review by Choice Review
This study on memory in El Salvador is exceptional for a number of reasons. Though focused on societal memory, it also works as an introduction to El Salvador's civil war. Even readers who recall specific, notorious incidents of this 12-year conflict, which resulted in 75,000 civilian deaths, may not know the war's larger history. Ching (history, Furman Univ.) presents the specifics of how the war began, the precise relationship of the civilian elite to the military, and the nature of the FMLN as a coalition of distinct guerrilla organizations. Equally important, the author examines public memory in a postwar Latin American nation, an increasingly important topic that historians too often convey in overly theoretical, unproductive writing. Ching's clear prose offers observations about public narratives that serve as a primer for understanding memory studies. Ching surveyed the extensive first-person literature on the war and identifies four groups that present common narratives: members of the elite, military commanders, guerrilla leaders, and the ordinary people who fought in the war. The insights offered by these accounts, the parallels between the narratives of elites and guerrillas, and the tension between the elite and military perspectives are illuminating. An excellent study, laudable for its lucidity and for presenting an important history to a broader reading audience. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. --Joshua M. Rosenthal, Western Connecticut State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
