Bertoni’s study stands out among the few high quality cultural histories of its chosen period. In tracing the growing sense of nationality in Argentina, the author correctly emphasizes the importance of responses to immigration in the late 1880s and the influence of European militarism and nationalism in the 1890s. In the late 1880s, she notes the impact of immigration on primary education, where a new emphasis on “patriotic” teaching continued over the next half-century. In the 1890s, the influence of militarist ideas borrowed mainly from Germany determined the introduction of organized physical exercise in the schools. Bertoni devotes a substantial chapter to “Heroes, Statues, and Patriot Holidays,” illustrating the competing myths and interpretations of the nation’s history. She she also delves into the history of museums. Other issues addressed by the book include the often-discussed question of the naturalization of immigrants. On one side, Bertoni provides new documentation on the...

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