Latin American Review of Books
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latamrob.bsky.social
Latin American Review of Books
@latamrob.bsky.social
We are a UK-based independent source of fine writing on books about and from Latin America. Subscribe at: https://latamrob.substack.com/. Also find us at: https://www.latamrob.com/
Labour migration has posed significant policy challenges for Mexico. Review: Caught in the Current, Irvin Ibargüen @UNC_Press #Mexico #migration #emigration #publicpolicy latamrob.substack.com/p/border-qua...
Border qualms
Labour migration has posed significant policy challenges for Mexico. Books in brief: Caught in the Current, Irvin Ibarguen, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:14 PM
The impact of the Tren Maya challenges academic narratives about Indigenous politics. Review: Roads to Prosperity and Ruin, Fernando Armstrong-Fumero @UNC_Press #Yucatan #Mexico #indigenous #AMLO #neoliberalism latamrob.substack.com/p/vernacular...
Vernacular neoliberalism
The impact of the Tren Maya challenges academic narratives about Indigenous politics. Books in brief: Roads to Prosperity and Ruin, Fernando Armstrong-Fumero, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:14 PM
US basketball coaches are exploiting Black Latin American youths. Review: Basketball Trafficking: Stolen Black Panamanian Dreams @DukePress #basketball #Black #sport #racism #exploitation latamrob.substack.com/p/negative-s...
Negative score
US basketball coaches are exploiting Black Latin American youths. Books in brief: Basketball Trafficking: Stolen Black Panamanian Dreams, Javier Wallace, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:13 PM
A Fresno writer takes Chicana poetry in a new direction. Review: Kadupul Flower, poems by Kimberly Vargas Agnese #chicana #poetry #environment #migration latamrob.substack.com/p/the-subver...
The subversive flower
A Fresno writer takes Chicana poetry in a new direction. Books in brief: Kadupul Flower, poems by Kimberly Vargas Agnese, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Bereft of ideas and in the grip of extremism, the US is obsessing about crime to legitimise its hegemony. Podcast: Narco-narrative imperialism #podcast #LatinAmerica #imperialism #Trump #crime #gangs #ideology latamrob.substack.com/p/podcast-38...
Podcast 38: Narco-narrative imperialism
Bereft of ideas and in the grip of extremism, the US is obsessing about crime to legitimise its hegemony
latamrob.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 11:34 AM
Music was a tool of survival for victims of Chile's dictatorship. Review: Music and Political Imprisonment in Pinochet’s Chile @kchornik @OxUniPress #Chile #music #Pinochet #coup #dictatorship #memory #leftwing #SalvadorAllende latamrob.substack.com/p/melodies-o...
Melodies of resistance
Music was a tool of survival for victims of Chile's dictatorship. Review: Music and Political Imprisonment in Pinochet’s Chile, Katia Chornik, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:14 AM
A history of police violence against Mexican Americans is timely in the era of Trump. Review: Brown and Blue, Brian D Behnken @UNC_Press #UnitedStates #chicano #MexicanAmerican #policing #racism latamrob.substack.com/p/licensed-t...
Licensed to kill
A history of police violence against Mexican Americans is timely in the era of Trump. Review: Brown and Blue, Brian D Behnken, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Reposted by Latin American Review of Books
Gavin O'Toole's review for @latamrob.bsky.social shined a spotlight on the longer significance of my 1820s story.
latamrob.substack.com/p/blurred-vi...
Blurred visions
The quest to link oceans has driven Central America to distraction. Review: Canal Dreamers, Jessica M Lepler, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Historical fact is an antidote to the racist fictions about violent Mexicans used by Trump to justify US aggression. Review: A Brief History of Violence in Mexico latamrob.substack.com/p/the-bigots...
The bigot’s deceit
Historical fact is an antidote to the racist fictions about violent Mexicans used by Trump to justify US aggression. Review: A Brief History of Violence in Mexico, Pablo Piccato, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:46 AM
The British left has sent a loud message of solidarity to Venezuela in the face of US aggression and demanded the UK's cowardly political class end their silence #podcast #Venezuela #imperialism #Trump #colonialism #socialism #UnitedStates #tradeunions latamrob.substack.com/p/podcast-37...
Podcast 37: No blood for oil
The British left has sent a loud message of solidarity to Venezuela in the face of US aggression and warned the UK's cowardly political class that they must end their silence
latamrob.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:48 PM
The US attack on Venezuela confirms that imperialism is all about space. Review: The Invention of Order: On the Coloniality of Space, Don Thomas Deere @DukePress #Venezuela #UnitedStates #imperialism #colonialism #aggression #military #spatial latamrob.substack.com/p/the-territ...
The territorial turn
The US attack on Venezuela confirms that imperialism is all about space. Review: The Invention of Order: On the Coloniality of Space, Don Thomas Deere, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
January 3, 2026 at 11:51 AM
Can 'uncontacted' Indigenous peoples offer the Latin American left theoretical insights? @Survival #Indigenous #Brazil #Amazon #racism #colonialism latamrob.substack.com/p/podcast-36...
Podcast 36: The dialectics of isolation
Can 'uncontacted' Indigenous peoples offer the Latin American left theoretical insights?
latamrob.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Press ‘freedom’ in Mexico has been shaped by elite ambitions. Review: Mexican Watchdogs: The Rise of a Critical Press since 1980 @APaxman @UNC_Press #Mexico #press #journalism #politicaleconomy #media #Marxism latamrob.substack.com/p/pawns-in-p...
Pawns in print
Press ‘freedom’ in Mexico has been shaped by elite ambitions. Review: Mexican Watchdogs: The Rise of a Critical Press since 1980, Andrew Paxman, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Kast’s election will open his country's sores. Review: Tales from the Sharp End: A Portrait of Chile, Natascha Scott-Stokes #bookreviews #SouthAmerica #Chile #democracy #dictatorship #Pinochet latamrob.substack.com/p/chiles-nig...
Chile’s nightmare returns
Kast’s election will open the country’s sores. Review: Tales from the Sharp End: A Portrait of Chile, Natascha Scott-Stokes, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Settler colonialism oppresses every aspect of Mapuche life—including sound. Books in brief review: Acoustic Colonialism: Acts of Mapuche Interference, Luis E Cárcamo-Huechante @DukePress #Chile #Argentina #Mapuche #SoundStudies #LatinAmericanStudies latamrob.substack.com/p/the-noise-...
The noise of liberation
Settler colonialism oppresses every aspect of Mapuche life—including sound. Books in brief: Acoustic Colonialism: Acts of Mapuche Interference, Luis E Cárcamo-Huechante, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Hard as it is to swallow, militaries have at times been the midwives of democracy. Books in brief review: The Birth of Democracy in South America @Raul_L_Madrid @CambridgeUP #LatinAmericanStudies #democracy #history #Uruguay #Colombia #Argentina #Chile #politics latamrob.substack.com/p/khaki-demo...
Khaki democrats
Hard as it is to swallow, militaries have at times been the midwives of democracy. Books in brief: The Birth of Democracy in South America, Raúl L Madrid, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:58 AM
An ancient Oaxacan icon sheds light on the modern meaning of pilgrimage. Books in brief review: Devotion in Motion: Pilgrimage in Modern Mexico, Edward Wright-Ríos @UchicagoPress #Mexico #religion #catholicism #Oaxaca #socialhistory #LatinAmericanStudies latamrob.substack.com/p/pilgrims-a...
Pilgrims and progress
An ancient Oaxacan icon sheds light on the modern meaning of pilgrimage. Books in brief: Devotion in Motion: Pilgrimage in Modern Mexico, Edward Wright-Ríos, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Peruvian nation-building has been characterised by unending frustration. Books in brief review: Modern Peru: A New History, Paulo Drinot and Alberto Vergara (eds) @paulodrinot @DukePress #Peru #politics #nationalism #history #LatinAmericanStudies latamrob.substack.com/p/andean-sis...
Andean Sisyphus
Peruvian nation-building has been characterised by unending frustration. Books in brief: Modern Peru: A New History, Paulo Drinot and Alberto Vergara (eds), by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Podcast: US aggression towards Venezuela has little to do with drug-trafficking and is really about oil . . . but is that all? #Venezuela #UnitedStates #imperialism #oil #drugtrafficking #China latamrob.substack.com/p/podcast-35...
Podcast 35: Smoke and mirrors in the Caribbean
US aggression towards Venezuela has little to do with drug-trafficking and is really about oil . . . but is that all?
latamrob.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Cuba’s revolution was not won just by bearded white men. Review: Clandestinas: Women in the Cuban Revolutionary Underground @carolleebengels @DukePress #Cuba #revolution #women #patriarchy #guerrilla latamrob.substack.com/p/women-at-a...
Women at arms
Cuba’s revolution was not won just by bearded white men. Review: Clandestinas: Women in the Cuban Revolutionary Underground, 1955–1959, Carollee Bengelsdorf, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Latin American Review of Books
The first review of my book is out!! 🎉 Many thanks to @latamrob.bsky.social for all the kind words! #History 🗃️ @uncpress.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/latamrob...
Rocket men
Cuba’s nuclear brinkmanship contains lessons about imperialism and internationalism. Review: The Fate of the Americas, Renata Keller, by Gavin O'Toole
open.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Cuba’s nuclear brinkmanship contains lessons about imperialism and internationalism. Review: The Fate of the Americas @UNC_Press #Cuba #Venezuela #antiimperialism #Revolution #socialism #SovietUnion
latamrob.substack.com/p/rocket-men
Rocket men
Cuba’s nuclear brinkmanship contains lessons about imperialism and internationalism. Review: The Fate of the Americas, Renata Keller, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Reposted by Latin American Review of Books
So grateful for this generous review of Canal Dreamers, which situates my “eloquent” and “expansive history” in recent context. 🗃️
@uncpress.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 7:51 PM
The quest to link oceans has driven Central America to distraction. Read our latest review: Canal Dreamers @lepler @UNC_Press #Nicaragua #CentralAmerica #infrastructure #PanamaCanal #imperialism latamrob.substack.com/p/blurred-vi...
Blurred visions
The quest to link oceans has driven Central America to distraction. Review: Canal Dreamers, Jessica M Lepler, by Gavin O'Toole
latamrob.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:36 AM