David Sowell

Violent Democratizations: Social Movements, Elites, and Politics in Colombia's Rural War Zones, 1984-2008 (review)

Colombias political culture defies simple analysis. Oligarchs dominated its traditional bipartisan system, La Violencia cost several hundred thousand their lives, four major guerilla groups emerged during the National Front period, narcotics traffickers distorted the political system and created a potent black economy, governments alternately extended peace overtures or supported paramilitary action against guerillas, and international actors exploited the ongoing crises for ideological or geopolitical objectives. Leah Anne Carroll explores these national complexities through a multivariate regional focus and an insightful analysis that warrants close reading.

From Popular Medicine to Medical Populism: Doctors, Healers, and Public Power in Costa Rica, 1800-1940 (review)

taken by Maudslay. It is a readable book with frequent touches of wit from both Maudslay and Graham. Readers will not need advanced knowledge of archaeology or the Maya; the text is clear even when things such as the Maya calendar are presented. Although the biography does give a history of the development of archaeology, and Maya archaeology in particular, it does not focus on the history of Guatemala and Mexico in the late nineteenth century. Historians will find interesting testimony by Maudslay about the era, however—notably, the problem of securing workers. Maudslay did not leave private diaries, and the biography of this British gentleman scholar is primarily his public, professional life. A wide audience of general readers, students, and experts should enjoy Alfred Maudslay and the Maya.

Tales of Two Cities: Race and Economic Culture in Early Republican North and South America, Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Baltimore, Maryland (review)

F. Mallon and the anthology by F. Safford and E. Huber, this book will probably elicit criticism on the part of country experts. Most likely because of space limitations, the discussion leaves out important segments of the available literature and incorporates little primary material. It will make some historians particularly unhappy, for, as seems typical of political science works, it paints with too broad a brush, sacrificing at times the complexity of the historical processes under evaluation. Nonetheless, it is a valuable addition to the academic literature and an indispensable work for any research library, certain to provide debate-provoking material for graduate seminars in the social sciences. It offers useful points for comparative researchers interested in furthering our understanding of state-building in the Americas.