Review

Author(s): Richard J. Walter

Review by: Richard J. Walter
Source: The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 58, No. 1 (Feb., 1978), p. 146
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2513646
Accessed: 04-03-2015 08:09 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Duke University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Hispanic American Historical
Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Wed, 04 Mar 2015 08:09:17 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
146 IIAHR I FEBRUARY

La Argentina ilusionada: 1922-1930. By Luis C. ALEN LASCANO.

Buenos Aires, 1975. Ediciones La Bastilla. Chronology. Bib-
liography. Pp. 391. Paper.
La (lenlocracia ficta: 1930-1938. By HORACIO SANGUINETTI. Buenos
Aires, 1975. Ediciones La Bastilla. Chronology. Bibliography. Pp.
166. Paper.
These two volumes are part of a series on Argentine history edited
by Felix Luna which will include twenty-seven studies covering the
years 1804 to 1973. The format, as judged by these works, will empha-
size political and cultural history, present current scholarship in fine
literary style, and append a detailed chronology.
The work by Lascano is the more comprehensive of the two re-
viewed here. Covering the presidency of Marcelo T. de Alvear (1922-
1928) and the second term of Hipolito Yrigoyen (1928-1930), the
author includes a wealth of detail on domestic political developments
and the social-cultural life of Argentina's "roaring twenties." Through-
out the work Lascano displays a strong anti-Alvear, pro-Yrigoyen bias.
About half of the book is devoted to Yrigoyen's ill-fated second ad-
ministration. According to the author, Yrigoyen fell to the military in
1930 not because of his own inadequacies but due to a combination of
the effects of the world depression, the heavy national debt incurred
by Alvear, and the ineptitude of and rivalries between his principal
advisors.
Horacio Sanguinetti picks up the story in 1930 and carries it for-
ward to 1938. A former student activist himself, Sanguinetti's major
contribution is to describe rather extensively the role of university
groups in the opposition to Yrigoyen and the military men who fol-
lowed him. Presenting his material in a much briefer treatment,
Sanguinetti seems to have fewer personal axes to grind than Lascano.
Both authors depend heavily upon secondary sources. Conspicu-
ously absent from their bibliographies are works of non-Argentine
scholars. Lascano's study in particular is very sparsely footnoted,
frustrating the reader concerned with the sources of evidence for some
intriguing and controversial assertions. Moreover, the opening chapters
of La Argentina ilusionada are apparently based on what the author
imagined Alvear's thoughts to be on the day he assumed office.
These weaknesses aside, the two volumes are lively, informative,
and well-written summaries of particular periods in Argentine history.
They should prove popular reading for both scholarly and general
audiences.
Washington University RICHARD J. WALTER

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Wed, 04 Mar 2015 08:09:17 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions