Torn Water

Literature & Fiction

Lynch, John

Literary

Harper-perennial

Falling out of Heaven

Fourth Estate

The caudillo of Spanish America was both regional chieftain and, in the turbulent years of the early nineteenth century, national leader. His power base rested on ownership of land and control of armed bands. He was the rival of constitutional rulers and the precursor of modern dictators. In this book, Lynch explores the changing perception of the caudillo--bandit chief, guerrilla leader, republican hero--and examines his multi-faceted role as regional strongman, war leader, landowner, distributor of patronage, and the "necessary gendarme" who maintained social order. Lynch traces the origins and development of the caudillo tradition, and sets it in its contemporary context. His scholarly analysis of this central theme in the history of Spanish America is underpinned by detailed case studies of four major caudillos: Juan Manuel de Rosas (Argentina), José Antonio Páez (Venezuela), Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (Mexico), and Raphael Carrera (Guatemala). This study is an important contribution our understanding of political and social structures during the formative period of the nation-state in Spanish America.

Caudillos in Spanish America, 1800-1850

History & Criticism

Clarendon Press

The Spanish American Revolutions 1808-1826 (Revolutions in the ModernWorld series)

History

Weidenfeld and Nicolson

Simón Bolívar was a revolutionary who freed six countries, an intellectual who argued the principles of national liberation, and a general who fought a cruel colonial war. His life, passions, battles, and great victories became embedded in Spanish American culture almost as soon as they happened. This is the first major English-language biography of The Liberator” in half a century. John Lynch draws on extensive research on the man and his era to tell Bolívar’s story, to understand his life in the context of his own society and times, and to explore his remarkable and enduring legacy. The book illuminates the inner world of Bolívar, the dynamics of his leadership, his power to command, and his modes of ruling the diverse peoples of Spanish America. The key to his greatness, Lynch concludes, was supreme will power and an ability to inspire people to follow him beyond their immediate interests, in some cases through years of unremitting struggle. Encompassing Bolívar’s entire life and his many accomplishments, this is the definitive account of a towering figure in the history of the Western hemisphere.

Simon Bolivar: A Life

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Yale University Press

Simón Bolívar was a revolutionary who freed six countries, an intellectual who argued the principles of national liberation, and a general who fought a cruel colonial war. His life, passions, battles, and great victories became embedded in Spanish American culture almost as soon as they happened. This is the first major English-language biography of “The Liberator” in half a century. John Lynch draws on extensive research on the man and his era to tell Bolívar’s story, to understand his life in the context of his own society and times, and to explore his remarkable and enduring legacy. The book illuminates the inner world of Bolívar, the dynamics of his leadership, his power to command, and his modes of ruling the diverse peoples of Spanish America. The key to his greatness, Lynch concludes, was supreme will power and an ability to inspire people to follow him beyond their immediate interests, in some cases through years of unremitting struggle. Encompassing Bolívar’s entire life and his many accomplishments, this is the definitive account of a towering figure in the history of the Western hemisphere.

A vivid exploration of the life and times of José de San Martín, legendary liberator of Chile and Peru José de San Martín (1778–1850) was an enigmatic figure—a revolutionary and a conservative, a professional soldier and an intellectual, a taciturn man who nevertheless was able to inspire the peoples of South America to follow his armies and accept his battle strategies. One of the great leaders in the wars for independence, he was a pivotal force in the liberation of Chile and Peru from Spanish rule.
In the first full English-language biography of San Martín in more than half a century, John Lynch shines new light on San Martín and on the story of Spanish America’s revolutionary wars. Lynch offers a series of dramatic set pieces: the Peninsular War, in which San Martín fought the French and learned his military skills; the crossing of the Andes, when his army battled the forces of nature as well as enemy fire; the confrontation with imperial Spain in Peru; and the standoff with Bolívar which led to San Martín’s resignation and exile in Europe. Based on the latest documentation, San Martín enhances our understanding of the modern history of Latin America and one of its most brilliant leaders.

San Martin: Argentine Soldier, American Hero

A brilliant capstone work that analyzes the entire history of Latin America's reception of Christianity This extraordinary book encompasses the time period from the first Christian evangelists' arrival in Latin America to the dictators of the late twentieth century. With unsurpassed knowledge of Latin American history, John Lynch sets out to explore the reception of Christianity by native peoples and how it influenced their social and religious lives as the centuries passed. As attentive to modern times as to the colonial period, Lynch also explores the extent to which Indian religion and ancestral ways survived within the new Christian culture.
The book follows the development of religious culture over time by focusing on peak periods of change: the response of religion to the Enlightenment, the emergence of the Church from the wars of independence, the Romanization of Latin American religion as the papacy overtook the Spanish crown in effective control of the Church, the growing challenge of liberalism and the secular state, and in the twentieth century, military dictators' assaults on human rights. Throughout the narrative, Lynch develops a number of special themes and topics. Among these are the Spanish struggle for justice for Indians, the Church's position on slavery, the concept of popular religion as distinct from official religion, and the development of liberation theology.

New Worlds: A Religious History of Latin America

Historical Study & Educational Resources

A comparison of English and Irish working-class life at the start of the 20th century, this text explores the contrasting urban centres of Belfast, Bristol and Dublin, and includes an examination of sectarianism in pre-World War I Britain.

A Tale of Three Cities: Comparative Studies in Working-Class Life

Europe

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

Between Habit and Thought in New TV Serial Drama (Media, Culture and Critique: Future Imperfect)

Humor & Entertainment

Television

Routledge

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Books by Lynch, John