Description

A spellbinding history of South America, as heard on The Rest Is History

‘Absolutely wonderful’ DOMINIC SANDBROOK

** A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2024 **

Patria tells an alternative history of South America, spanning thousands of miles and five centuries to the present. Looking beyond modern borders, Laurence Blair takes as his waymarks nine countries that can’t be found on a map: vanished realms, half-imagined utopias and dismembered homelands.

Blair’s journey ranges from ancient Amazonian city-states and a rebel Inca dynasty in the jungle – via a Brazilian Wakanda that defied slavery, Bolivia’s landlocked navy, and the Patagonian power that defeated the Spanish – to fall in with the African freedom fighters who marched over the Andes, and the New World Napoleon who led Paraguay to its ruin.

Groundbreaking recent scholarship, striking archaeological discoveries and vivid eyewitness reporting – including encounters with drug lords, Indigenous leaders, refugees and former guerrillas – weave a story of survival, resistance and revolution, restoring South America to the centre of world history.

‘An unputdownable delight’ JON LEE ANDERSON
‘Constantly surprising and always enticing’ HARRIET RIX

Publisher Review

This book is a gem: an exuberant history of South America, written with scholarly verve and literary dexterity, and an unputdownable delight from start to finish. — Jon Lee Anderson * New Yorker correspondent * Once in a great while comes a work that not only captures the essence of a region, it does so in an entirely new way, with a clear eye and a big heart. Such is Laurence Blair’s Patria, which turns a sharp lens on Latin America, offering us an original view of its many idiosyncrasies. Instead of a stolid march of events, he sees flesh and blood characters, quirky destinies, epic ambitions, high adventure. This is history at its most vibrant. It is also a snapshot of the here and now. At once grounded in solid research and livened by vivid reportage, Patria is a magnificent contribution to the Latin American canon. — Marie Arana * author of SILVER, SWORD & STONE * Past and present cleverly entwine in this erudite, pacy and brilliant book — Sophy Roberts * author of THE LOST PIANOS OF SIBERIA * Combining intrepid reportage and extensive historical research, Patria travels to the heart of South America. A gripping and polemical account of the continent’s rich and often tragic past and troubled present — Michael Reid * author of FORGOTTEN CONTINENT: A HISTORY OF THE NEW LATIN AMERICA * Laurence Blair brings you to some of the hardest-to-reach places on the planet with his lively writing and deep reporting in a book that dives into the rarely told, often ugly and always fascinating history of this beautiful and exploited continent. How did South America arrive here and where is it going? Patria is one of the best books yet to try to answer that question. — Jack Nicas * Brazil bureau chief, NEW YORK TIMES * This is a breathtaking palimpsest: an almanac of past worlds stranger and more wonderful than one could ever imagine, and an erudite epic of South America today. Patria is constantly surprising and always enticing. Laurence Blair leads us with masterly vision through the mazes of a continent: he is our new Bruce Chatwin, with a touch of Hemingway — Harriet Rix Through rich storytelling, Patria demonstrates that the way we remember cultures from long ago-the Inca empire in Peru, the escaped slaves of Palmares in Brazil, the Diaguita in Argentina, to name a few-still very much influences how each country is building its present. And we must be mindful of what we choose to remember. — Andrea Moncada * Americas Quarterly * Laurence Blair throws away the traditional map and takes a dramatic plunge into little-known corners of South America, moving seamlessly between the complexities of the past and present. This expansive work not only restores these misplaced histories, but also charts important new ways for thinking about the continent’s wider place in the world. — Carrie Gibson * author of EL NORTE: THE EPIC AND FORGOTTEN STORY OF HISPANIC NORTH AMERICA * I thought I knew a lot about the history of South America until I read this fascinating mixture of history, travel and adventure. A must-read — Ghillean Prance Ambitious and far-reaching… integrating research into pre-Columbian remains with the contemporary experience of crossing borders as a sharp-eyed, backpacking witness — Iain Sinclair PRAISE FOR 150 YEARS OF SOLITUDE: BOLIVIA’S DREAMS OF THE SEA — – Laurence Blair has invented a completely new genre of literature: magical journalism, at once fantastical and pragmatically droll. It’s full of weird wit but also a deep sensitivity to the wounds of national sentiment. It’s one of a kind — Simon Schama A brilliantly mature intellectual jigsaw puzzle, combining … nationalistic history, with personal anecdote, travel writing and narrative sweep … a hugely ambitious project — Caroline Daniel