Redeemers: Ideas and Power in Latin America

An epic intellectual history of Latin America by one of the region’s most prominent thinkers.

In his first book to appear in English since Mexico: Biography in Power, a work which the Wall Street Journal calls “the standard history of postcolonial Mexico,” prize-winning author Enrique Krauze illuminates the evolution of political, social, and philosophical discourses in Latin America. With echoes of Richard Hofstadter and Edmund Wilson, Krauze explores the Latin American intellectual tradition by deftly animating its decisive figures, from Octavio Paz to Che Guevara, José Vasconcelos to Hugo Chávez, and inscribing them upon a vivid landscape of patriotism, opportunism, morality, and avarice — and of love, honor, loyalty, and identity. Redeemers delivers an unparalleled explication of the roots of ideology and action in Latin America today.

This groundbreaking work, inspired by Isaiah Berlin and Edmund Wilson, unpacks the human stories behind a century of political turmoil:

• Redemption vs. Democracy: Krauze frames the central dilemma of modern Latin America, examining the tension between the search for a messianic savior and the difficult path toward a stable democratic state.

• The Cult of the Caudillo: From the cultural crusade of José Vasconcelos to the postmodern television presence of Hugo Chávez, explore how the idea of the "Great Man" has shaped the region’s political destiny.

• Revolutionary Icons: Delve into the lives of secular saints like Eva Perón, "The Madonna of the Shirtless Ones," and the enraged idealist Che Guevara, whose images continue to inspire and divide the continent.

• Politics and the Novel: Uncover the divergent political paths of two literary giants, Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa, and how their worldviews were shaped by the shadow of dictatorship.