Revolución Libertadora Book Review

By David L. Veres

Review

“Measured by per capita gross domestic product,” Wall Street Journal columnist Walter Russell Mead recently wrote, Argentina “was one of the 10 richest countries in the world before the Great Depression. In 2022 it ranked 67th, according to International Monetary Fund data.”

Historians agree that the rule of Juan Domingo Perón – with its, Mead adds, “populist economics, weak institutions, political polarization[,] and contempt for the rule of law” – catalyzed the country’s precipitous decline that persists today, nearly seven decades after the duly elected Perón’s overthrow in 1955.

Now Antonio Luis Sapienza tells the tale in Revolución Libertadora: The 1955 Coup d’état in Argentina – 30th in Helion’s superb Latin America@War range, available in North America from Casemate.

First of a two-volume study, contents concisely chart June 1955’s first, unsuccessful coup attempt in nine informative chapters over 72 pithy pages:

• Background factors
• Juan Domingo Perón (1895-1974)
• The Failed 1951 Coup of General Benjamín Menéndez
• The Failed 1952 Coup, General Elections, and the Death of First Lady Eva Perón
• A Terrorist Attack and the Plan to bomb Plaza de Mayo
• Confrontation with the Catholic Church
• Another Plot to Kill Perón and the Naval Conspiracy
• The Bombing Raid on the Plaza de Mayo
• Forces of the Coup

Sapienza’s capable chronicle includes notes on critical military, political, economic, and technical factors – including principal personalities.

Dozens of period photos augment the account. Eighteen aircraft and three vehicle profiles provide plenty of modeling inspiration. And maps put commentary into geographic perspective.

Combat actions and anecdotes further season the study. Some chapter endnotes illumine commentary sources. And references – print and internet, mostly secondary – conclude contents.

What a handy handbook. The subsequently successful September 1955 revolution finally deposed Juan Perón. And Volume 2 will address that event – and Perón’s sustained sway on Argentine society.

Recommended!

My sincere thanks to Casemate for this review sample!