De la gloria al olvido: El hundimiento del vapor Prinz August Wilhelm en Puerto Colombia, 1918

The 100th anniversary of the Great War, which between 1914 and 1918 would surpass in concentrated destructiveness any previous event in human history, has renewed scholarly interest in evaluating the conflict's impact throughout the globe. For example, until 2014 historians of the war paid scant attention to Latin American nations, seven of which, including Colombia, remained neutral throughout the hostilities. The volume under review, lavishly illustrated and meticulously researched, is one of several recent publications seeking to assess Colombia's experience during the war. Although the authors' primary focus is recounting the sinking by its own crew on April 22, 1918, of the Prinz August Wilhelm (PAW), a German liner anchored in the Bahía de Sabanilla off the coast of Puerto Colombia, their investigation places this event in broader context by describing the contributions of Germans to the growth of Barranquilla and Puerto Colombia during the nineteenth century; the...