In this volume Dr. Marfany has continued his study of the revolutionary week in May of 1810 which brought about the end of the Spanish viceregal system in Argentina and which established a creole governing body. The subject of this particular study is the Cabildo abierto of May 22, 1810, a municipal meeting attended by a large number of the prominent citizens of Buenos Aires. The majority of those present at this meeting voted for the deposition of Viceroy Cisneros and his replacement by a junta which was established by the Cabildo. This account by Marfany is interesting for the general reader and important material for the researcher who does not have access to the published source material.

The author has succeeded in publishing a comprehensive account of the Cabildo abierto of May 22 and has expressed himself well in the process of doing so. The delivery is not smooth because the author has included numerous excerpts from the Cabildo records, primary accounts, and historians who are contemporary both to the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. Marfany discusses these excerpts, interpreting the primary accounts and criticizing—favorably and unfavorably—the secondary accounts, expressing definite opinions of his own. Included in the text are lists of those present at the meeting in accordance with their occupations and with their votes for or against the viceroy.