Alberto Demicheli’s first quarter-century of scholarly production was concerned with public and constitutional law, particularly of Uruguay, so that it was by a natural progression that he has devoted his second quarter-century to the constitutional history of the Río de la Plata, culminating (so far) his career with this cogent study, the fruit of so many years of thought and research. Two main themes are interlinked here. The first is the development of federalist thought and practice in the Río de la Plata, in which Demicheli shows that Artigas was the most important initiator. His influence is traced through the vicissitudes of Argentine political history from 1813 to 1860, long after his own disappearance from the scene. The second is the foundation of the separate state of Uruguay which was finally brought about as a result of a compromise between the competing countries Argentina and Brazil. Thus federalism sprang from Uruguay, but could not be established there because of external circumstances.

This book’s importance lies in its treatment of the constitutional question as one embracing the whole of the former viceroyalty. The emphasis is not on the Buenos Aires–Montevideo rivalry and the slighting of Artigas, or on the collusion between Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, but on the nature, origins, and far-reaching repercussions of the federalism envisaged by Artigas. It is unfortunate that the student of Argentine constitutional history might be put off by this useful book’s title.