This is a wonderful book, by a great writer. The catch is that very often it will be misunderstood, and associated with the group of fantastic south american writers, like Garcia Marquez. Instead the story is basically for real (the story of the last years of Paraguay dictator Gaspar Francia, who ruled the country from 1813 to 1840), and most of the mentioned documents are authentic, or at least plausible. Roa Bastos has played on the borderline between history and fiction, but most readers will not know this, and take for fiction what are very important and interesting historical facts, that would deserve a different approach and attention. This is the only (but rather painful) fault I find in an otherwise beautiful work.

There are three great novels about the Latin American dictator and all of them are very different. Miguel Asturias' Mr. President deals with a backwater banana republic where the president for life's presence itself is minor. What occurs instead is the lethal working out of a hideously unjust system which crushes and destroys all who resist and those who are caught in its clutches. Then there is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's The Autumn of the Patriarch, an example of high modernism at its most brilliant. In sentences of increasingly serpentine length (in the end consisting of the final chapter of forty-five pages) Garcia Marquez deals with an aged dictator who has ruled for centuries and is capable of every iniquity (such as serving up a cabinet minister for his treacherous colleagues to eat) while living in a world of pretend power and real submission (he has to sell his country's sea to pay off the Americans). This book is also high modernist, but is very different. Instead of the fantastic elements of the Autumn of the Patriarch we have here the story of the founder of Paraguay, Dr. Francia. Dr. Francia consolidated his country's independence by creating a regime of isolation and absolute power. He expelled the Jesuits and set up his own Catholic Church so it would not be beholden to Rome. He was utterly ruthless and the result, according to E. Bradford Burns was an autarky that probably benefited the masses more in terms of literacy and nutrition than any other Latin American country of the time. Its fate, however, was to be crushed by the surrounding countries in the great war of 1870-73 where the male population was almost literally devastated.

No venal tinpot hack, Dr. Francia appears as a man of frightening sincerity, in an account that is of direct revelance to the fate of Castro's Cuba. I, the Supreme begins with a proclamation in which the dicators calls for the decapitation of his corpse and the lynching of all his ministers. It continues with tales of prisoners forced to live in boats travelling down the rivers of Paraguay without ever stopping. We read of Francia's dialogue with a sycophantic Vicar General ("How long did the trial of the infamous traitors to the Fatherland last? As long as it was necessary in order not to rush to judgement. They were granted every right to defend themselves. In the end every recourse was exhausted. It might be said that the case was never closed. It is still open. Not all the guilty parties were sentenced to death and executed."), who then goes on to condemn his priests for siring dozens and hundreds of illegitimate children. Like Lenin and indeed Stalin he rants against the jungle of bureaucracy that he himself has created, he outsmarts the greedy surrounding oligarchies who wish to absorb Paraguay, he reminds his civil servants not to express and exploit the Indian population. We read reports of how school children are indoctrinated to see their great leader ("The Supreme Government is very old. Older than the Lord God, that our schoolmaster...tells us about in a low voice.) The book is a masterpiece of polyphony, filled with many voices and viewpoints, combined with a richness of metaphor and incident and a complexity of moral vision that have few competitors this century. Writing for a country that has possessed only brief and shadowy vestiges of liberty, Roa Bastos deals with its pain in a way that should be required reading for all who care about democracy.

In what has to be a fictional note at the end of the book, the author claims that he is not such, indicating that he merely copied parts of historical documents, writings and tales, thus the real "author" of this book is history itself and not him, who he says is merely the "compiler." The work is indeed true to history; the history about José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, the controversial Dictator of Paraguay between 1814-1840 who used to sign his official decrees not with his name but the sentence that is the title of this book. This is a wonderfully complex book; not easy to read. Sometimes fascinating paragraphs are unexpectedly cut with some note form the "compiler" indicating that the rest is illegible because the page is partly burned, which lets you to think that it was indeed copied from an old document; while at other times you read fascinating dialogs and monologues which you would think had to be fictional; but it is not as simple: You cannot tell truth from fiction because the truth seems fictional and the fiction tells truth. Truth that comes to you in the form of insights about the state of mind of a dictator, about absolute power, and about the soul of a country that owns its independent existence to its first dictator's determination to be its supreme ruler. It is an utterly fascinating book.

Burton fue explorador, espía, diplomático, científico (fundó la Antropological Association) y escritor, autor de más de cincuenta libros. En 1868 estuvo tres años en San Pablo (Brasil) como cónsul, y decidió visitar los campos de batalla del Paraguay para dar a sus compatriotas una visión directa de la guerra. Hizo dos viajes, en 1868 y 1869, que integró en un conjunto de cartas publicado en 1869. Sin embargo, Burton no estuvo en los campos de batalla, pero sí visitó Humaitá, Asunción (Paraguay), Montevideo (Uruguay) y Paysandú, Buenos Aires, Rosario y Corrientes (Argentina). Como en otros de sus libros anteriores (los inolvidables relatos de sus viajes a Medina y la Meca) brinda cuantiosa información obtenida de la lectura de todos los libros disponibles de viajeros anteriores y de su propia visión directa. Ofrece una visión general de los países visitados, desde los aspectos políticos hasta detalles puntuales sobre alimentación (por ejemplo, el asado argentino), consolidando una descripción precisa del Río de la Plata en el siglo XIX.

Sir Richard Francis Burton was explorer, spy, diplomatic, scientific (he founded the Antropological Association in London) and writer, author of more than fifty books. In 1868 he was three years in San Pablo (Brazil) as a consul, where he decided to visit the battlefields of Paraguay and to give to his compatriots a first hand vision of the war. He made two trips, in 1868 and 1869, then he integrated them in a series of letters, published in 1869. Nevertheless, Burton was not in the battlefields: he visited Humaitá and Asunción (Paraguay), Montevideo and Paysandú (Uruguay), Corrientes, Rosario and Buenos Aires (Argentina). As in previous cases (the trips to Medina and Mecca) it offers numerous confrontantions obtained of the reading of all books available of previous travellers and their own direct vision. In this book brings a overview of the countries visited, from the political aspects to precise details (e.g. on costumes, buildings or feeding, as the Argentine "asado" and many others), consolidating a precise description of the Rio de La Plata in the nineteenth century.

Mr. Stover is a leading authority on the life and work of Barrios, and this book is an invaluable source of information...

Few understood the guitar like Barrios, and the legacy of his genius is a constant stimulus for those of us who love it..This book gives a definitive insight into the life and times of the man, and detailed analysis of his many compositions...Thouroughly recommended..

This is a fine book for anyone interested in the music of the Americas or classical guitar. It presents the life and struggle for critical acceptance of this unusual and gifted man, and has insightful analysis of his music also, with emphasis on its use of the guitar's resources.

This book contains the memory of paraguayan marshal José Félix Estigarribia, wrote for his daughter Graciela Estigarribia and was dictation for her from his father, during their exile in Montevideo Uruguay, and the copyright is to Graciela inheritance of his father. His father's secretary, Pablo Max Insfrán took Graciela's manuscripts without her permission (she was phisically blind at the moment)and published it in the USA without the permission of the legitime owner, Graciela Estigarribia. Insfran did that with the help of his uncle Edgar Insfran (former represive dictator Stroessner minister of the interior) and the repressive police under the orders of his uncle. If something can be made to repair this injustice, the copyright for Graciela Estigarribia, I will be very happy and one injustice can be repaired for the family of this extraordinary paraguayan hero, marshal Estigarribia. I was personal friend of nun Graciela (she became nun of the order of the Visitation after her husband's death. She was blind but was my unforgettable french speaking teacher. She personally tells me the history I am telling now). The book is very interesting for all people interested in strategy studies (military, bussines, sports, etc. strategies) and the readers can be inspired for this wonderful genius of war Estigarribia. He talk about problem evaluation, strategical thinking, implementation of strategy, intelligence, and all things a modern strategist can be enrichised. I recommend it to all people who want to have practical aproach and who want to became true his thinking. For me is inspiration in thinking in an intelligent way and to act in an dinamic way.

Alfredo Raúl Friedmann Köhn Ciudad del Este - Paraguay South America

20 DE ABRIL DE 1999 SRES. DIGNOS CABALLEROS : SALUDOS. SOY UN ESTUDIANTE DE 24 AñOS DE ADMINISTRACION BANCARIA Y FINANCIERA DEL "INSTITUTO DEL SUR" Y ME SIENTO BASTANTE INTERESADO SOBRE EL CULTIVO Y COMRECIALIZACION DE ESTA PLANTA (MACA) Y ME GUSTARIA POR FAVOR, TENER ALGUN ASESORAMIENTO DE PARTE DE UDS. SE LOS VOY A AGRADECER INFINITAMENTE. ATT. SU AMIGO ... RONALD REYES SAJI AREQUIPA - PERU

I have two children adopted from Paraguay and this book is great information and on their level. It is sort of like a social studies book on the country. There are many different chapters covering a lot of areas. There are photos on almost every page. Unlike other books I bought about Paraguay, this one has more on current life than on history. I highly recommend it for the age group of 6 years old and up.

Paul Lewis wrote this book in 1980, almost a decade before Stroessner was overthrown after 35 years of rule, the longest in the Western Hemisphere and fourth longest in the world. Lewis devotes a large portion of the book to the history of Paraguay, which is fascinating, and he also explains the politics in Paraguay and how dictatorships have ruled the country almost since independence, continuing on to an explanation as to how Gen. Alfredo Stroessner took over in 1954, and has held power through 1980. Paul Lewis also writes about the transformation of the Paraguayan economy, and how surprisingly there was economic improvement due to the conservative policies of Stroessner, and heavy foreign aid. He also explains Paraguayan culture, and why the country is still heavily isolated from the rest of the world.

This is the only book to explain Stroessner's Paraguay in detail. It is unfortunate, because Stroessner is still one of the few major world leaders without a biography. I would like to see Professor Lewis do a follow up on his fine book, perhaps a full biography of the man who shaped Paraguay for over three decades. Nevertheless, Paraguay Under Stroessner is a excellent and exhaustively researched book, and should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in Paraguayan history.

Gaspar Francia defined himself as a Jacobine, and he was one, in a country so far removed from european cultural currents, and from the conditions that led to the french revolution, he managed to create an exceptionally interesting economical and political experiment. A centralized state, that owned most of the lands, and guaranteed to its people, at the beginning of the XIX century, basic education for all, efficient agriculture, the start of an industrial development, a professional army, and total independence from the powers of the time. He certainly was a dictator, with total and absolute authority. But was feared only by the higher classes, and loved by the people. His "reign" was peaceful, in sharp contrast with the blood shed in internecine wars in neighboring countries, and the executions of his enemies where rare. Rengger is one of the few witnesses to the first period of his government (1819 to 1825, Francia was in power from 1813 to 1840)and because of this, very important. The author is at the other end of the polytical spectrum, extremely critical of Francia's endeavours and actions, his friends are those that oppose Francia, and he despises the common folk that support him. The book should be read taking this into account, but is very well written and very informative.

This is one of the best novels I have ever read. The story and descriptions give you the full sensations of the experience of the journey to the land without evil. From inside the head of the young shaman Ava-Tape, you see, hear, and smell tribal South America. You share his confusions about the ways of the missionaries, a people who would "crucify the son of their god."

I went through a wide range of emotions reading this book. From the joy of the dance and the thrill of young love to the sadness and horror of survival in a changing world, I was involved in the lives of the Guarani in this story. I felt like I was part of the family in the jungle. Excellent!

It's such a pleasure to read a book in which the author has invested not only his talent but his heart. You come to really care for the world Pallamary has created, and all the people who live in it. I could see everything as if I were there instead of reading a book. Awesome.

Here is a novel woven with facts that every person who believes they should go to remote peoples and change their ancient spritual traditions should read first. "Land Without Evil" gently transports the reader into a paradigm of the native healers/shaman. A way of life that more and more people are now longing to learn and experience for themselves. A story such as this pulls us to respect and honor what little is left of this way of life, when humans were open to more than the material world.

In 1932, Bolivia and Paraguay went to war over a large, flat, sparsely watered plateau called the Gran Chaco. Over the course of three years, the two armies, exhibiting constant bravery and periodic stupidity, dueled, generating at least 90,000 deaths. In this book, Dan Hagedorn and Antonio Sapienza look at the war from the angle of the use of airpower during the war. The individual types of aircraft used by the combatants are reviewed, as are their operational uses.

This book makes an excellent companion for The Chaco War by Bruce Farcau. The author of that book almost completely ignores the air war component of the war, while this book focuses on it. Also, unlike the other book, this one is awash with maps and pictures from the war. Therefore, if you are interested in the Chaco War, then you should read this book.

IF YOU WANT TO LEARN ABOUT THIS NOT SO WELL KNOWN MODERN CONFLICT BETWEEN TWO ESTABLISHED NATIONS, BOTH WITH AIR FORCES AT THAT TIME, THIS IS THE BOOK TO READ. BESIDES THE SPECTACULAR TEXT, THE PICTURES ARE GREAT!!!!!!

These must be the best ever released book related to aeronautics. It has much relevant information about, as it's title stands, the aircraft of the Chaco war. I, as the author, live in the peaceful country, which is the place where the war was hold in those years, and I can assure that this title has the most complete information about the past golden age of the Paraguayan air force. Just one more should be added, congratulations Mr. Tony, you've done a great job. Victor Amarilla/ Paul McCartney