Peru: A Short History

Although it is only the fourth largest country of Latin America (after Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico), Peru s half-million square miles are equivalent to the combined area of France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Superimposed upon the heartland of the United States, Peru would cover about all of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri. Noted for the splendors of its geography, its extensive mineral endowments, and the richness of its culture and history, Peru, however, provides only a meager subsistence to most of its sixteen million inhabitants.David P. Werlich, drawing on over five thousand sources, both published and unpublished, synthesizes for the general reader and student recent scholarship on the political, economic, social, and cultural evolution of this important Latin American nation. Without neglecting the country s early history, Werlich stresses modern Peruthe period since 1914and furnishes the first unified, in-depth accounting of the momentous post-1968 revolution under Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado.Werlich s history is a lucid introduction to the entire scope of Peruvian history, and will be especially welcomed by the general reader and student interested in the contemporary era. The extensive and comprehensive bibliographic essay found in the back of the book is an invaluable aid to further study.