Subtitled 'Armed Insurgency in Argentina 1955-74', this book covers a fairly tumultuous time in the history of Argentina. As with a number of other Central and South American nations, Argentina has had a fairly checkered history when it comes to democracy and dictatorship.

There are a number of reasons why this happens and it is different in each nation. Generally it has to do with either internal situations such as corrupt politicians or an overly powerful military. Then there are external influences, which during the Cold War era were generally the result of Marxist influences and a desire to create a socialist state, regardless of how others felt about it. Sometimes these things work, but generally they do not.

For many years Juan Peron held control over the nation, but eventually his dictatorial rule became too much and he fled the country. This left the nation open to growing Marxist sentiment. This was resulted in the formation of multiple groups who used terror to make their cause. Eventually, most of these groups were eliminated or diluted to the point of impotence. However, two groups gained in importance;  the Montoneros and the ERP.  These groups either tried to return Peron to power or tried to establish a Cuba-like insurrection. However, Argentina was not Cuba so that route failed. In addition, Peron was briefly returned to power, but this didn't work out when he died in office, once more leaving Argentina to military control.

This book does a great job of making sense of what initially seems like a confusion of political groups. The major events of the time help to weave the story of a nation trying to find the best way to govern itself during the period of 1955 until 1974. Included in this volume is a look at the various branches of the military and their equipment along with a brief look at the main insurgent groups. As with all books in this series, there are a lot of period photos of those involved along with the usual pages of full color profiles and other art work. Very much worth picking up.

October 2024

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