This is a valuable reference tool for anyone wishing to obtain both introductory and specialized information on Colombia’s historical chronology and major historical events, geography and economy, institutions, politicians and political movements, literature, intellectuals, and bibliography. Doubling the length of its original edition, published in 1977, Robert Davis’ work generally features twice as many entries under every letter of the alphabet, and also revises and expands the information under old entries.
Similarly, this edition updates its ancillary “Bibliographic Guide to Colombian History” to include numerous works published between 1977 and the late 1980s. (The only reference to a work published in the 1990s that this reader could locate was Davis’ own Colombia, a volume in the World Biographical Series, published in England in 1990). Readers should note that this new version does not include important works that probably went to press around the same time, particularly David Bushnell’s Making of Modern Colombia: A Nation in Spite of Itself (1993) and Allan McFarlane’s Colombia Before Independence: Economy, Society, and Politics Under Bourbon Rule (1993).
Other omissions, however, could have been avoided. For instance, a vital “Background Material” (p. 541) missing is the Atlas de geografía histórica de Colombia (1985). From the listings on economic history (pp. 590–92) in the section titled “Republican Period, 1830–1990,” the important revisionist work edited by José Antonio Ocampo and Santiago Montenegro, Crisis mundial, protección, e industrialización: ensayos de historia económica colombiana (1984) is absent. Concerning the role of the military in government (p. 594), the key study by Carlos H. Urán Rojas, Rojas y la manipulación del poder (1983) is nowhere to be found. This is probably because, as the author himself acknowledges, the selection of the dictionary’s entries and bibliographic materials is ultimately arbitrary. Therefore the reference list may not completely satisfy either beginners or specialists.
Despite these and other omissions, though, the guide is comprehensive enough to lead the curious amateur in search of further works; and it is also helpful for advanced students of Colombian economy, society, politics, and culture, who will find synthetic and reliable information on numerous issues. Professor Davis should certainly be commended for his long dedication to the usually frustrating compilation of this and other reference works on Colombia. For that, Latin Americanists, particularly Colombianists, in and outside the United States are indebted to him. This dictionary is a must for general and research libraries alike. Individual researchers willing to pay its relatively high price may also profit from having it on their shelves.
