This book is part of Westview’s Profiles of Contemporary Latin American Nations series and is the first scholarly survey of Nicaragua to appear in English since the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship. Walker is one of few American political scientists who did systematic research on Nicaragua before the revolution. The book is brief, elegantly written, and conveys invaluable information to novices as well as specialists.
The book’s six main chapters survey topics important for an understanding of Nicaragua. Chapter 2 follows Nicaraguan history from the pre-Columbian era through 1933, and examines the liberal-conservative split, United States intervention, and the political role of Augusto C. Sandino, so critical to understanding the contemporary revolution. Chapter 3 reviews the rise and development of the Somoza family dynasty, and then examines the opposition movement that grew into a popular insurrection in 1978-79, and which, under the leadership of the Frente Sandinista de Liberation Nacional (FSLN), overthrew Anastasio Somoza Debayle.
Employing a dependency framework, Walker’s fourth chapter traces the evolution of the economy from colonial times through 1979. The remainder of the chapter outlines the economic policies of the FSLN and Government of National Reconstruction. Chapter 5—a survey of Nicaraguan culture—should be invaluable to those unfamiliar with Nicaragua, and is a welcome addition to a book of this type. Topics range from art to food to social class to race and sex bias, and how these cultural phenomena have been affected by the revolution.
The final chapters describe Nicaraguan government and politics (6) and external relations (7), before and after the fall of the Somoza dynasty. There is a too brief survey of the nature of the Nicaraguan polity under the Somozas, followed by a description of the structure of the revolutionary government, political groups and power, and the struggle to socialize Nicaraguans into the new social order. Nicaragua’s role, before 1979, as a client of the United States is contrasted with the foreign policy of the Sandinista revolutionary government. Walker’s exposition here and in the historical section will greatly clarify for novices the nature and origins of Nicaragua’s revolutionary order and its dramatic foreign policy shifts.
The author’s sincere sympathy for the Nicaraguan people and their struggle to transcend the ravages of Somocismo shines throughout, but the book is not more political advocacy. Rather, Walker’s knowledge of Nicaragua and of the complexity of its revolution illuminates and clarifies many matters consistently distorted in the highly politicized and ill-informed commentary in the mass media. The timeliness, high quality of design, presentation, and scholarship, plus the valuable pictures and annotated bibliography, all suggest that Nicaragua: The Land of Sandino will become a standard in courses on Latin America for years to come.
