Aside from its rather uninspired title, this is a very interesting, useful, well-researched, and clearly written book. Researchers and advanced students of Central American history will appreciate its relevance, its readability, and its suggestive conclusions.
The author’s findings differed from what she expected when she set out to track the roots of Nicaragua’s Sandinista Revolution in the country’s economic history. Among other things, Charlip found that—despite landholding concentration—small- and medium-sized growers held most of the land in Nicaragua’s main coffee region during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (periods often described as massively dominated by large estates). While it was not a settlement frontier, as in several other parts of Latin America, Charlip portrays Carazo’s coffee economy as a land of opportunity not only for the wealthy and powerful but also for smaller farmers who actively participated in various markets. She also views the elite structure as relatively open...
