Scan barcode
historicalmaterialgirl's review against another edition
It's one thing to think colonialism is bad and another to study it, feel your jaw drop and blood boil at the details, at the complete and utter destruction of an entire continent. Saying you hate colonialism is an understatement.
Galeano writes history with the flourish of a novelist's pen; I was as hooked as I was horrified. He illustrates with historical-modern day parallels that colonialism hasn't died, it's become abstracted. It's relegated to confusing economic terms that control entire countries, ecologies and human populations. How important is the difference between leading a war against a country and, decades later, funding and arming a war against that country? How important is the difference between running a country as a colony and then, later, making it economically dependent on you (and helping a coup in it if they nationalize a resource you want)?
After reading (most of) this, it's now plain to me how capitalism really is the root of all evils, it's not an "equal set of oppression" to homophobia, ableism, etc that the term intersectionality had me thinking. That isn't to dismiss the material, life-ending effects of homophobia and racism, but just that those don't explain why. The primitive accumulation of someone else's economy is why there are deadly, poisonous, unnecessary mines across the world. Capitalism is why the colonizers were there. Capitalism is why there is a global south. Capitalism is what has destroyed the land and wiped out entire cultures.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Colonisation
sfarfalfa's review against another edition
informative
reflective
5.0
This nonfiction book documents the legacy of Spanish, Portuguese, and other Western and Southern European colonisation events across South and Central America from their geneses to today, the exploitation of the continent for its resources by USA and other invasive entities, and the socio-political intersections therein. Galeano commentates upon the historical events which have transpired upon the continent and draws parallels across the vast region, whilst exposing the arbitrarily demarcated boundaries of the continent’s constituents and how that further plays into and aids its exploitation by colonial powers. He does all of that unwavering truth-telling with the backdrop of some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read in a nonfiction book—the description and visuals in this were both stunning and confronting.
This is an incredibly heavy read. At least from what I recall of my copy, there are no trigger warnings issued. Galeano describes events in all their most gruesome details, and this book does have uncensored usage of racial slurs, not by the author himself but within quotations of colonists.
I always tell people that if you think you utterly hate colonialism, read this book, and you’ll realise you didn’t hate colonialism nearly enough.
To say I love this book is an understatement; I deeply respect it.
To say I love this book is an understatement; I deeply respect it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Racial slurs
marielaabrown's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.75
Give me a bit, I'll come back. Need to process ..
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, and Colonisation
Minor: Addiction and Child death
michaelion's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
"In Caracas they are called toderos because they do a bit of everything (todo)." and "The technical ability of these people was of no interest to the colonial economy. They were treated as so many skilled workers." Two quotes from the book I found so moving I had to add them in my review.
Large sections of this book should be taught in schools. Not all of it though, some of it can be scrapped and the point will still be the same. The main thing that takes you out of the book is how much of it is really long examples.
Other than that, no notes. The book really touches on everything. Even though it was published 51 years ago, what's changed? Too much has stayed the same. Although, talking about the USSR as if it was still an ever-present thing threw me off my rocker a couple times.
If you're reading this review, by the way, please watch the film Sleep Dealer (dir. Alex Rivera, 2008). Thank you.
Large sections of this book should be taught in schools. Not all of it though, some of it can be scrapped and the point will still be the same. The main thing that takes you out of the book is how much of it is really long examples.
Other than that, no notes. The book really touches on everything. Even though it was published 51 years ago, what's changed? Too much has stayed the same. Although, talking about the USSR as if it was still an ever-present thing threw me off my rocker a couple times.
If you're reading this review, by the way, please watch the film Sleep Dealer (dir. Alex Rivera, 2008). Thank you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Torture, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Body horror, Homophobia, Blood, and Antisemitism
I tagged body horror for the title alone. It itself invokes the feeling of flesh being torn apart to get to the beating heart, under the skin, where the veins and life is. Which I'm sure was purely intentional.chicopato's review
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, and Colonisation
cemeterygay's review against another edition
informative
reflective
4.0
An interesting perspective and introduction to looking at Latin America through a decolonial lens but definitely does not hold up to any level of academic scrutiny.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Medical trauma
CW: Racial Caste System, Systemic Violencesavvylit's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
4.5
This book was simultaneously a history book, a damning anticolonial & anticapitalist treatise, and a warning of the devastation that occurs when profit is chosen over people.
I learned so much reading this and had many, many takeaways. One of the biggest being that the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the U.S. could not have occurred without rampant genocide and destruction in Latin America. For instance, to cite just one staggering fact, "the [indigenous] of the Americas totaled no less than 70 million when the foreign conquerors appeared on the horizon; a century and a half later they had been reduced to 3.5 million." And that's just the largest genocide in the history of Latin America. So many more have occurred since, particularly thanks to U.S.-funded coups in Latin states during the 20th century.
Another major takeaway is that modern capitalism can also not continue without further exploitation of the people and land of Latin America. For decades, Latin American countries have served as a laboratory for unfettered capitalism and been completely crippled by it. Though all of Latin America is made up of independent countries in the modern era, their fate is still decided by external empires. As Galeano says, "He who lends, commands." Latin America's finances still belong to international lenders & banks. Thus Latin America is essentially a continent of colonies; this time controlled entirely by the global economy.
I could say so much more about this enlightening work, but I have a character limit. If like me, you feel like world history was skipped and/or sanitized in school and want to know more about the world, read this! Or if you're disenchanted with capitalism, also like me, and want proof of some of the worst of it, read this book and then follow it up with Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine.
I learned so much reading this and had many, many takeaways. One of the biggest being that the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the U.S. could not have occurred without rampant genocide and destruction in Latin America. For instance, to cite just one staggering fact, "the [indigenous] of the Americas totaled no less than 70 million when the foreign conquerors appeared on the horizon; a century and a half later they had been reduced to 3.5 million." And that's just the largest genocide in the history of Latin America. So many more have occurred since, particularly thanks to U.S.-funded coups in Latin states during the 20th century.
Another major takeaway is that modern capitalism can also not continue without further exploitation of the people and land of Latin America. For decades, Latin American countries have served as a laboratory for unfettered capitalism and been completely crippled by it. Though all of Latin America is made up of independent countries in the modern era, their fate is still decided by external empires. As Galeano says, "He who lends, commands." Latin America's finances still belong to international lenders & banks. Thus Latin America is essentially a continent of colonies; this time controlled entirely by the global economy.
I could say so much more about this enlightening work, but I have a character limit. If like me, you feel like world history was skipped and/or sanitized in school and want to know more about the world, read this! Or if you're disenchanted with capitalism, also like me, and want proof of some of the worst of it, read this book and then follow it up with Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Violence, Trafficking, Colonisation, and War
quickermorequickly's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War
More...