The Rise and Fall of the Paraguayan Republic, 18001870

Paraguay plays a very small role in the modern world, but for part of the nineteenth century it was a significant regional force. Between 1800 and 1865 it changed from an imperial backwater into a dynamic, dictator-led, financially sound nation. Then came the terrible War of the Triple Alliance, and by 1870 Paraguay had virtually been destroyed. John Hoyt Williams re-creates the eras people, places, and events in rich detail and a vigorous style, but this is much more than a mere narrative. His archival research in Paraguay and several other countries enables him to offer new facts and interpretations, correct a number of misapprehensions, and explode a few myths. He also provides the clearest, most objective portraits available of the three extraordinary men who ruled Paraguay during this time: Dr. Jos Gaspar de Francia, El Supremo; Carlos Antonio Lpez, the Corpulent Despot; and Lpezs flamboyant son Francisco Solano Lpez. Discussions of social, economic, and cultural conditions round out a masterly account of a remarkable historical period.