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
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...
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
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...
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
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...
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
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...
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
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...
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
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...
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
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...
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...
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
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...
latamrob.substack.com/p/blurred-vi...
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
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 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 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...
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
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...
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
Can 'uncontacted' Indigenous peoples offer the Latin American left theoretical insights? @Survival #Indigenous #Brazil #Amazon #racism #colonialism latamrob.substack.com/p/podcast-36...
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
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...
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
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...
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
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-...
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
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...
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
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...
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
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...
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
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...
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
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...
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...
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
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...
open.substack.com/pub/latamrob...
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
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
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
latamrob.substack.com/p/rocket-men
Podcast: As Trump threatens Caracas, we revisit books on the Bolivarian Revolution #Venezuela #UnitedStates #imperialism #LatinAmerica #Cuba #Revolution #antiimperialism #socialism latamrob.substack.com/p/podcast-34...
Podcast 34: Back to the future—ten books on Venezuela
As Trump employs gunboat diplomacy to seek regime change in Caracas, we revisit books on the Bolivarian Revolution when Latin America's 'pink tide' was defying the empire
latamrob.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Podcast: As Trump threatens Caracas, we revisit books on the Bolivarian Revolution #Venezuela #UnitedStates #imperialism #LatinAmerica #Cuba #Revolution #antiimperialism #socialism latamrob.substack.com/p/podcast-34...
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
@uncpress.bsky.social
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 7:51 PM
So grateful for this generous review of Canal Dreamers, which situates my “eloquent” and “expansive history” in recent context. 🗃️
@uncpress.bsky.social
@uncpress.bsky.social
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
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...