The history of railroads and railroading in Latin America remains a fascinating subject and a wide open field for research. This book is a historical summary of the planning, construction, and economic problems of Bolivian railroads. Bolivian railroading began in 1867 with plans to establish the fantastic Madera-Mamoré line which was finished in 1912 on the Brazilian side of the river. According to the author this was the most expensive railroad building task in the world.
The book carries the history of all Bolivian railroads to January, 1959. In this year the English company, the Antofagasta and Bolivian Railway Company Ltd., which is the trunk line of the Bolivian system, requested that the government take over its line. The company was near bankruptcy. Today the whole Bolivian railroad system is in a state of utter confusion. Bolivian railroading is a nearly unbelievable chapter in a country with a nearly unbelievable history.
Even though the Aramayo Ávila book has a wealth of facts it is not a first rate book. The facts are not digested, organized, and fused into a smooth and easily readable volume. It has no footnotes; much of the supporting material in the text should have been placed in footnotes. There is no bibliography, which is another grave defect. I know little about the history of Bolivian railroads; in reading the book I felt quite frustrated since I have no idea of the sources used. The lack of an index is a further handicap. But if facts about Bolivian railroading are needed this book has them.
