In keeping with other books published in the same Oxford University Press series, Herbert Klein’s Bolivia focuses principally on the economic and political history of the country. Following a rather simplistic discussion of geography, the book takes a strict, chronological approach: Pre-Columbian Civilization; The Creation of a Colonial Society; Late Colonial Society; Revolution and the Creation of a Nation-State, 1809-1841; The Crisis of the State, 1841-1880; The Ages of Silver and Tin, 1880-1932; Disintegration of the Established Order, 1932-1952; The National Revolution, 1952-1964; and, finally, The Emergence of a New Order, 1964-1980. Although specific leaders are constantly mentioned, including practically every president of the republican period, the primary emphasis is on institutional, cultural, and social processes. Klein takes the reader through the silver booms and busts of the colonial era, traces the rise and fall of Chuquisaca as a major center for administration, education, and finance, and stresses the crucial role of the agricultural hinterland to the development of La Paz and Cochabamba. He sees the Túpac Amaru rebellion of 1780-82 as an independence movement—the first in South America—and argues that its principal result was to deal a “deathblow for the kuraka class in Upper Peru” (p. 77). He leaves one wondering, however, about an almost companion statement that “the Tupac Amaru rebellion, despite its actual and symbolic importance, had little lasting impact on Upper Peru and represented the last great effort of the Indian nobility to give their people freedom and justice” (p. 78). If I were an Indian, and had lost my last effective voice in government, I would think otherwise; for me the impact would have been tremendous.
The strongest sections of the book are those dealing with mid-and late-nineteenth-century events, with the Chaco War and its aftermath, and with the post-MNR period. All contain information that is hard to find and little known. Klein deftly handles the sporadic incursions of British and North American capital into the Bolivian economy, and, without either defending or castigating it, defines its role in both promoting and frustrating long-term development. He gives particular attention to the importance of United States intervention following the 1952 revolution, and ties Department of State policy much more closely to United States business interests than most authors have in the past. He gives solid figures to support his argument that the Banzer regime was one of the most prosperous of Bolivian history and finishes the book by arguing that, in spite of the political unrest and economic difficulties that have plagued the nation since Banzer stepped down, “long-term trends would seem to suggest that Bolivian society has the will and capacity to meet [the] problems [of distribution of wealth and resources] in a positive way” (pp. 269-270).
Given the fact that Klein has handled so much historical documentation so well, it is a shame that he felt that he also had to cover the archaeological record. That coverage leaves much to be desired, both in comprehensiveness and accuracy. It is also a shame that he did not have a better editor to catch typographical errors, misspellings, mistranslations, and errors of fact. To cite only three, he translates cuenca as “foothills” (p. 9), talks about the domesticated vicuna (pp. 9, 11), and consistently refers to the archaeological site of Wari as Waru (pp. 13-14).
Despite these rather minor shortcomings, the book offers a succinct, basically accurate, and insightful introduction to the complexities of Bolivian history. Its usefulness is considerably enhanced by the inclusion of an eighteen-page bibliographical essay, probably the most comprehensive such essay to be found anywhere. In addition, the appendixes contain valuable tables of census and economic data, and a chronology of major historical events.
