Rank and Privilege

Book excerpt: Dr. Linda A. RodrÌguez has assembled a new collection of essays that finally provides the historical context necessary to understand the Latin American military. The articles included here examine a variety of time periods and nations, from the counterinsurgency army of New Spain, to the nineteenth-century War of the Pacific, to the modern relationship between the military and development. The contributors look at the ways in which Latin America's armed forces have changed over time, and how external threats as well as internal rivalries have shaped the military. Together, these essays trace the roots of the military's power and the growth of its political influence.