Jeffrey L. Gould

Adiós Muchachos: A Memoir of the Sandinista Revolution by Sergio Ramírez (review)

The English translation of Sergio Ramirezs 1999 memoir allows the reader a fascinating entree into the life and work of one of Central Americas most compelling personages and leading writers. This excellent translation of the former revolutionary junta member and vice president of Nicaraguas 1998 book offers a fine introduction, filled with indispensable insights into the romance and tragedy of the revolution.

The Return of the Native: Indians and Myth-Making in Spanish America, 1810–1930

because of financial ruination per se. No wonder, then, that she finds that the commercial trading of tulips persisted in the decades after the crash, most often successfully but occasionally landing disputes in the courts where the same issues of value and trust that played so prominently in the spring of 1637 remain central. The moral that we are expected to take from this episode when it is invoked today was clearly not the moral learned by the bloemisten themselves. Even though Goldgar’s story is not nearly as dramatic (or conducive to Schadenfreude) as the one we know so well, we should work hard to incorporate her corrections, certainly into the scholarly discourses of social, cultural and economic history, but in the wider public comprehension as well. For it is not the case that there are now no lessons to be learned from the great tulip crash of 1637. It is simply that the lessons will speak little to our financial behaviour as such, and instead force us to consider anew how we assign value to things; how we might best engage in transactions which require trust and reliable information; and perhaps, if we are lucky, how we can seek resolution to the inevitable times that information will fail and trust will not be enough. This is a book not to miss. Anne E. C. McCants Massachusetts Institute of Technology a 2009, Anne E. C. McCants

Sandinista: Carlos Fonseca and the Nicaraguan Revolution (review)

Dream” (pp. 10–11). This is basically true, but the story is more complicated than that. For starters, the founders of Grupo Bimbo all had strong Catalan ties. And today, Bimbo is the third largest baked goods producer in the world. In an ironic twist, last year Bimbo threatened to acquire its main U.S. competitor, Interstate Bakeries, the owner of the original Wonder Bread brand. The collection thus has a somewhat skewed feel to it. One might even argue that a new form of exoticization has emerged. Peasants, burros and serapes have been exchanged for chavos banda, antros, and lucha libre. However, in all fairness, it must be stressed that the editors make no claims to present a complete overview of Mexican culture, and their urban focus makes historiographical sense. The studies, though theoretically informed, are low on jargon and thus accessible to a broad audience. This may disappoint pomo theory buffs, but does allow for undergraduate class use. The best articles combine Geertzean thick description with solid historical analysis. The rich, delightful, and distinctly cool cultural tidbits that tumble from this academic piñata will, one hopes, soon become the building blocks of a new history of postrevolutionary Mexico’s golden age.

To Lead as Equals: Rural Protest and Political Consciousness in Chinandega, Nicaragua, 1912-1979

This book is a carefully argued study of peasants and labor during the Somoza regime, focusing on popular movements in the economically strategic department of Chinandega in western Nicaragua. Jeffrey Gould traces the evolution of group consciousness among peasants and workers as they moved away from extreme dependency on the patron to achieve an autonomous social and political ideology. In doing so, he makes important contributions to peasant studies and theories of revolution, as well as our understanding of Nicaraguan history. According to Gould, when Anastasio Somoza first came to power in 1936, workers and peasants took the Somocista reform program seriously. Their initial acceptance of Somocismo and its early promises of labor rights and later ones of land redistribution accounts for one of the most peculiar features of the pre-Sandinista political landscape: the wide gulf separating popular movements and middle-class opposition to the government. Only the alliance of the Frente Sandinista (FSLN) and the peasant movement would knock down the wall of silence between the two forces.