8 - Peru and Bolivia

Summary

peru

For the entire period from independence to the War of the Pacific, Jorge Basadre’s great work, Historia de la República del Perú, 5th ed., 10 vols. (Lima, 1962–4), undoubtedly constitutes the most important source of reference. His earlier works, Perú, problema y posibilidad (Lima, 1931), and La multitud, la ciudad y el campo (Lima, 1947), have not only maintained their freshness but were responsible for pioneering the study of Peru’s history. Apart from Basadre’s classic works, another summary of this period written by Emilio Romero, Historia económica del Perú (Buenos Aires, 1949) contains information which is still of value. More recently, Ernesto Yepes del Castillo, Perú 1820–1920: Un sigh de desarrollo capitalista (Lima, 1972) has provided an overall interpretation of the nineteenth century, while Julio Cotler, in Clases, estado y nación en el Perú (Lima, 1978) discusses and explains the persistence of the colonial character of Peruvian society and the state after 1821. A useful general history in English is Fredrick B. Pike, The Modern History of Peru (London, 1967). Heraclio Bonilla, Un siglo a la deriva (Lima, 1980), chaps. 1 and 2, and Shane Hunt, Price and Quantum Estimates of Peruvian Exports, 1830–1962 (Princeton, N.J., Woodrow Wilson School, Discussion Paper 33, 1973) have suggested the division of the nineteenth century into economic periods, on the basis of the country’s export performance.