Most university press books have fancy dust jackets sprinkled with rave comments by recognized scholars in the field. This one, by Richard Lee Turits and published by Stanford University Press, is no exception. In this case, however, almost all of what appears on the back cover happens to be accurate. In short, this is an important book for Dominican historiography and has relevant implications for the study of dictatorship anywhere. Turits has crafted a solid examination of the peasantry during the long reign of general Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina (1930–61). Historical chapters trace the emergence of the peasant class during the colonial period and nineteenth century, along with the development of land tenure patterns. Even after the growth of the sugar complex from the 1880s and U.S. occupation from 1916 to 1924, Dominican rural dwellers managed to maintain a considerable independence based on the availability of land and a weak...
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Book Review|
August 01 2004
Foundations of Despotism: Peasants, the Trujillo Regime, and Modernity in Dominican History
Foundations of Despotism: Peasants, the Trujillo Regime, and Modernity in Dominican History
. By Turits, Richard Lee. Stanford
: Stanford University Press
, 2003
. Map. Notes. Bibliography. Index
. x, 384
pp. Cloth, $65.00.Hispanic American Historical Review (2004) 84 (3): 543–544.
Citation
Hobart A. Spalding; Foundations of Despotism: Peasants, the Trujillo Regime, and Modernity in Dominican History. Hispanic American Historical Review 1 August 2004; 84 (3): 543–544. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00182168-84-3-543
Download citation file:
Advertisement
46
Views