This work is the first volume of a series, edited by Simón Alberto Consalvi, concerning the nineteenth-century boundary dispute between Venezuela and Great Britain. (The next volume will be titled Benjamín Harrison, abogado de Venezuela).

In the first half of the present book, Consalvi achieves his stated goal: “explorar la personalidad de Grover Cleveland y conocer su visión de la crisis” (p. 15). Using several major English-language works about the President, Consalvi reconstructs the image of a determined chief executive with a strong dislike of colonialism. Secretary of State Richard Olney added his directness to Cleveland’s anticolonial position, which led to their now-famous stand against the British prime minister, Lord Salisbury.

Besides examining the events that transpired during the years 1895 to 1899 between Venezuela, Great Britain, and the United States, Consalvi also discusses events in Venezuela, in an attempt to explain why successive Venezuelan governments allowed the United States and Great Britain to decide how the issue would be handled. He concludes that the lack of any stable government during the period forced Venezuela to take that passive position.

The second half of the book is a translation and compilation of four important primary documents: Cleveland’s text The Venezuelan Boundary Controversy; the Message from Secretary Olney to Prime Minister Salisbury; the Response of Lord Salisbury to Olney; and President Cleveland’s Message to the United States Congress. A reading of these pages makes it quite clear that the United States had little intention of allowing Great Britain the opportunity to increase its influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Although the book contains several explanatory notes, the lack of customary scholastic footnote citations diminishes its usefulness for those undertaking serious research on the topic. The bibliography contains a number of Venezuelan sources, although it is almost exclusively a list of works published in the United States (with one source published in Great Britain). The book would be most appropriate for readers in search of a Spanish-language overview of the role of the United States in settling the Venezuelan dispute with Great Britain. Overall, Consalvi has produced a sound work.