Synopses & Reviews
Originally published in Puerto Rico in 1956 as
Los derrotados, Cesar Andreu Iglesias's fictional depiction of a fateful Nationalist assault on a U.S. military installation in Puerto Rico is now available for the first time in English.
This tautly written chronicle uncovers the personal histories of three middle-aged revolutionaries as they plan to kill a U.S. general. Andreu's cool treatment of their political objectives does not obscure his compassionate recognition of their human limitations. Andreu makes clear his view that the Nationalist answer to Puerto Rico's problems had become an anachronism and that by the 1950s the union movement was better prepared to deal with the changes that industrial capitalism was thrusting upon the Puerto Rican people and their way of life. The afterword by Arcadio Diaz-Quinones provides a rich historical and literary context for The Vanquished.
Review
The Vanquished reflects Cesar Andreu Iglesias's understanding of the contradictions of Puerto Rican nationalism in the 1950s. The author, a highly respected independentista critic of the Nationalist Party, spent much of his journalistic career trying to align the struggle for Puerto Rican independence with Labor and other social movements. Faithful to the historical setting, in which traditional colonial life was giving way to industrial capitalism, this compelling novel will be read gainfully by students of the Caribbean, Latin America, and twentieth-century anti-colonialist struggles in a variety of settings. (Francisco A. Scarano, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Review
Faithful to the historical setting, in which traditional colonial life was giving way to industrial capitalism, this compelling novel will be read gainfully by students of the Caribbean, Latin America, and twentieth-century anti-colonialist struggles in a variety of settings. (Francisco A. Scarano, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Synopsis
Originally published in Puerto Rico in 1956, this action-packed novel follows the lives of three men who plot a terrorist action against the US presence in Puerto Rico.
About the Author
Cesar Andreu Iglesias (1915-1976), a prominent intellectual and journalist known for his sophisticated writings on colonial politics and the Puerto Rican labor movement, was editor of The Memoirs of Bernardo Vega. The Vanquished is the first of his works to be translated into English.Sidney W. Mintz is emeritus professor of anthropology at The Johns Hopkins University and author of Worker in the Cane, Caribbean Transformations, Sweetness and Power, and Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom.