Chile Reader

The Chile Reader makes available a rich variety of documents spanning more than five hundred years of Chilean history. Most of the selections are by Chileans; many have never before appeared in English. The history of Chile is rendered from diverse perspectives, including those of Mapuche Indians and Spanish colonists, peasants and aristocrats, feminists and military strongmen, entrepreneurs and workers, and priests and poets. Among the many selections are interviews, travel diaries, letters, diplomatic cables, cartoons, photographs, and song lyrics.Texts and images, each introduced by the editors, provide insights into the ways that Chile's unique geography has shaped its national identity, the country's unusually violent colonial history, and the stable but autocratic republic that emerged after independence from Spain. They shed light on Chile's role in the world economy, the social impact of economic modernization, and the enduring problems of deep inequality. The Reader also covers Chile's bold experiments with reform and revolution, its subsequent descent into one of Latin America's most ruthless Cold War dictatorships, and its much-admired transition to democracy and a market economy in the years since dictatorship.

"For those who have never visited Chile or do not know a great deal about the country, this Reader is an impressive and accessible introduction to it. . . . For those who are more familiar with Chile, there is also a lot to reflect on and rethink in a new light. . . . The Chile Reader is a highly recommended, illuminating and thought-provoking read." , “This book is recommended as a general, non-narrative introduction to Chilean History and for use in courses in Latin American History or, more specifically, the Southern Core.” , “A major contribution of The Chile Reader to scholars is that many of these documents have never before been published in English. All these texts represent precious resources not just for scholars who are studying Chile and Latin America, but even for Chileans themselves who want to understand how their nation was forged.”, “The Chile Reader is an invaluable teaching tool.Graduate and undergraduate students will find inspiration for research projects among its pages. This remarkable volume is essential for scholars, students, travelers, and anyone who wants to learn about Chile’s complicated and fascinating history.”, “The Chile Reader is an accessible, perceptive, and engaging text. …  It offers ... insightful and fresh syntheses, at the same time that it provides rich documents and images that afford ample opportunity for informed reflection from readers. … [T]he volume is not only an excellent resource, but also an impressive intellectual achievement.”

Elizabeth Quay Hutchison is Associate Professor of History at the University of New Mexico. She is the author of Labors Appropriate to Their Sex: Gender, Labor, and Politics in Urban Chile, 1900–1930.Thomas Miller Klubock is Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Contested Communities: Class, Gender, and Politics in Chile's El Teniente Copper Mine, 1904–1951.Nara B. Milanich is Associate Professor of History at Barnard College. She is the author of Children of Fate: Childhood, Class, and the State in Chile, 1850–1930.Peter Winn is Professor of History at Tufts University. He is the editor of Victims of the Chilean Miracle: Workers and Neoliberalism in the Pinochet Era, 1973–2002. All books mentioned are published by Duke University Press.