his multi-faceted role as regional strongman, war leader, landowner, distributor of patronage, and the `necessary gendarme' who maintained social order. Professor Lynch traces the
origins and development of the caudillo tradition, and sets it in its contemporary context. His scholarly analysis of this central theme in the history of Spanish America is underpinned by detailed case-studies of four major caudillos: Juan Manuel de Rosas (Argentina), Jose Antonio Paez (Venezuela), Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (Mexico), and Rafael Carrera (Guatemala). This is an important contribution to our understanding of political and social structures during the
formative period of the nation-state in Spanish America.
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