As Jorge Gelman notes in the introduction of this valuable work, historical research on Spain’s southern-most viceroyalty has expanded dramatically since 1984. One topic that has gained particular attention is the rural sector. While a number of researchers have explored the nature and operations of estancias and their impact on rural society, Gel-man has shifted his attention to an important but little understood topic: wheat production and its articulation with ranching in the late colonial period.
Gelman focuses on the Colonia region of the Banda Oriental (now Uruguay). After offering introductory remarks, Gelman explores a series of interrelated topics: the agricultural production of the Colonia region during the closing decades of the colonial era; the range and relative importance of agricultural exploitations; land distribution and colonial land policies; the way producers marketed their products; ranch operations and their labor system; how farmers produced wheat; the characteristics of the population in...
