Review by Choice Review
Although there are numerous monographs and articles written on the Tupac Amaru and Katarista uprisings that rocked the Andes from 1780 to 1781, until now there was no concise overview of them. Serulnikov (Univ. of San Andres, Argentina) has filled this void with his short but substantive synthesis on the violent upheavals in both Peru and Upper Peru (now Bolivia). The book begins with a historiographical discussion of how these movements have been remembered and analyzed over time; undergraduates might require help making sense of this. The author then outlines the causes, both immediate and longer term, of the outbursts of violence in the central Andes, moving back and forth between the Tupac Amaru and Katarista uprisings to follow events chronologically. Serulnikov not only describes events in detail, but gracefully infuses his narrative with important explanations about the political, economic, and cultural factors that drove the movements forward and ultimately led to their failure. This well-written book is accessible for undergraduates while analytically rich enough to satisfy experts. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. E. E. O'Connor Bridgewater State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
