Review of Civil Wars and Reconstructions in the Americas: The United States, Mexico & Argentina, 1860–1880 By Evan C. Rothera
Document Type
Book Review
Publication Date
7-2023
Abstract
The past thirty years has witnessed a proliferation of Civil War era scholarship that has reframed the American Civil War in increasingly transnational terms. From traditional diplomatic accounts, to explorations of religion, journalism, finance, and more, there has been much done to expand the war beyond a continental bubble. That said, much of this has been done in a framework cutting across the Atlantic to draw on different European nations. Evan Rothera's Civil Wars and Reconstructions in the Americas is a welcome addition to this literature, as it moves us away from Europe and the legacy of 1848 and other nationalist battles to one centered in the Americas. By drawing on a series of civil wars in the United States, Mexico, and Argentina and the subsequent battles waged in their respective Reconstruction eras, Rothera reveals the Pan-American state of affairs as one of intense cooperation from 1860 to 1880 as these nations waged battles over political identity—a battle that pit democracy and republicanism against monarchy and the final gasp of European empire.
DOI
10.1353/swh.2023.a900778.
Recommended Citation
Thomson, D.K. (2023). [Review of the book Civil wars and reconstructions in the Americas: The United States, Mexico & Argentina, 1860–1880, by Evan C. Rothera]. Southwestern Historical Quarterly 127(1), 134-135. doi: 10.1353/swh.2023.a900778.
