Sarmiento, Author of a Nation

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888) was—and continues to be—one of the most important and controversial figures in Latin American history. Diplomat, statesman, educator, visionary, and president of Argentina from 1868 to 1874, he also produced two avowed masterpieces of Spanish prose—Facundo and Recuerdos de Provincia. He saw himself as the standard-bearer of European liberalism in Spanish America and the architect of a nation built on its ideals. Almost all of the great shapers of intellectual life in Latin America have had to reckon with his visions of culture and progress.

First of its kind in English, this collection of 22 essays by preeminent interpreters of Latin American culture tackles the paradox of the Sarmiento legacy—his ambitious attempt to reshape Argentina into a modern, export economy society set against his unrivaled position at the center of Spanish American letters—and shows the ways in which the political and literary projects are inextricably linked. Since Sarmiento's legacy continues to define contemporary ideologies, this book is certain to provoke debates among students of Latin American history, politics, and culture.