| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 111.1

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 630 words from this article are provided below; about 851 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 111.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Caribbean and Latin America

Hendrik Kraay and Thomas L. Whigham, editors. I Die with My Country: Perspectives on the Paraguayan War, 1864–1870. (Studies in War, Society, and the Military.) Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2004. Pp. x, 257. $69.95.
This collection of essays on the Paraguayan War is a coherent monograph. The work succeeds because editors Hendrik Kraay and Thomas L. Whigham have written an introduction on "War, Politics, and Society" that unifies the essays and recognizes the new bibliography on the Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance. The editors place the Paraguayan War within the context of conflicts in the Plata from 1600 to 1800, summarize the course of the war between 1865 and 1870, and evaluate diverse interpretations of the causes of the war. The collection includes authors who provide non-Paraguayan perspectives. There are chapters on Brazil and the war by Kraay, Renato Lemos, and Roger Kittleson; on Uruguay by Juan Manuel Casal; and on Argentina by Ariel de la Fuente.	1
Essays on economics and women are written by Jerry W. Cooney and Barbara Potthast, two respected historians of Paraguayan history. Although their topics are necessary to round out the monograph and may be of interest to the general reader, there is little new for the Paraguayan specialist. Cooney examines Paraguay's economy in sustaining the long conflict. Among the issues he explores are war finance, weapons, the foreign blockade's effect on the economy, Paraguayan state enterprises, transportation and communications. The small Paraguayan economy and population limited the availability of manpower, internal production of basic goods, such as leather, salt and corn flour, and the ability to supply the defensive river port of Humaitá. Analysis of the competence of Vice President Domingo Francisco Sánchez and a more focused examination on the economy of the northern provinces between 1867 and 1869 would add to the reader's understanding of why the war continued for over five years. A critical examination of government reports and population statistic might have moved this essay from description to analysis.	2
Potthast fails to provide a new perspective when posing a series of questions related to the role, political status and significance of women in the Paraguayan War and postwar economies. Paraguayan women's contributions in agriculture and artisan production and their gifts of jewelry illustrate the importance of women to the war effort. Postwar travel accounts testify to the continued significance of women after the war in the central region of Paraguay. The author should have detailed effects of war on women by examining ethnicity, class and region.	3
In any edited collection, the most interesting essays provide new perspectives. Of particular interest is Kraay's essay on the "Patriotic Mobilization in Brazil: The Zuavos and Other Black Companies," which examines Afro-Brazilian recruitment, reputation and legacy in the war. Although military practice was to integrate its forces, the Brazilian government formed the Zuavos and Caracas as separate black units. They wore the uniforms of French colonial troops (consisting of baggy red pants, vests, and fezzes) in an attempt to attract Afro-Brazilians to volunteer for the war. Although Afro-Brazilians demonstrated popular interest in the war, few members survived, and those who did benefited little from their military experience.	4
A very different perspective of the war is provided by Renato Lemos, who examined the correspondence of Benjamin Constant, a principal advocate of positivism in Brazil and later a major promoter of the 1889 coup that overthrew the monarchy. Constant's participation in the Paraguayan War was insignificant, but he did observe the plight of common soldiers on the front lines and criticize the conduct of the war. Lemos's essay also provides insight into the formation of Constant's mature views on both republicanism and positivism.	. . .

There are about 851 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.