Description

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'An ambitious, riveting and essential book that has much to teach us about the recent history of this region, and about the human impulse towards populism that continues to shape the world' Ben Rhodes, bestselling author of The World As It Is

'A REVOLUTION IS A STRUGGLE TO THE DEATH BETWEEN THE FUTURE AND THE PAST.' FIDEL CASTRO

For more than six decades, Fidel Castro's words have echoed through the politics of Latin America. His towering political influence still looms over the region today.

The swing to the Left in Latin America, known as the 'Pink Tide', was the most important political movement in the Western Hemisphere in the 21st century. It involved some of the biggest, most colorful and most controversial characters in Latin America for decades, leaders who would leave an indelible mark on their nations and who were adored and reviled in equal measure.

Parties became secondary to individual leaders and populism reigned from Venezuela to Brazil, from Central America to the Caribbean, financed by a spike in commodity prices and the oil-backed largesse of Venezuela's charismatic socialist president, Hugo Chávez.

Yet within a decade and a half, it was all over. Today, this wave of populism has left the Americas in the hands of some of the most authoritarian and dangerous leaders since the military dictatorships of the 1970s.

About the Author

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Will Grant is one of the UK's leading broadcast journalists on Latin American affairs. He has been a BBC correspondent in Latin America since 2007 with successive deployments to Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba. Across his career, he has been responsible for covering the region from Patagonia to the Rio Grande and has traveled to every part of the continent in that time. He is currently based in Havana and Mexico City.

Praise For…

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An ambitious, riveting and essential book that has much to teach us about the recent history of this region, and about the human impulse towards populism that continues to shape the world' Ben Rhodes, New York Times bestselling author of The World As It Is

'A tour-de-force of reportage and analysis that makes sense of historic, complex forces that shook Latin America ... A lucid, important book' Rory Carroll, author of Comandante

'A valuable and timely guide ... Grant's ¡Populista! describes how the playbook of charismatic autocrats and chronic cronyism can unfold anywhere' John Paul Rathbone, author of The Sugar King of Havana

'Will Grant moves deftly from palaces where he heard presidents claiming they embodied the will of the people to the barrios where their policies had most impact' Maurice Walsh, former BBC Latin America correspondent

'Will Grant writes with close knowledge, admirable balance, and the verve of a natural storyteller. A must-read for today's volatile world' Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life