The Best-Selling Argentinian Biography Books of All Time

Latin America has produced no more remarkable or enduring political figure than Juan Perón. Born to modest circumstances in 1895 and trained in the military, he rose to power during a period of political uncertainty in Argentina. A shrewd opportunist who understood the needs and aspirations of the country's workers, Perón rode their votes to the presidency and then increased their share of the nation's wealth. But he also destroyed the independence of their unions and suppressed dissent.

Ousted in a coup in 1955, he wandered about Latin America and finally settled in Spain, where he masterminded an astonishing political comeback that climaxed in his reelection as president in 1973. Joseph Page's engrossing biography—the first full-length study of the enigmatic Argentine—has been more than eight years in preparation. Based upon interviews on three continents, never-before inspected Argentine and U.S. government documents and exhaustive research, Page's book spans Perón's formative years; his arrest and dramatic rescue by the descamisados (shirtless ones, or workers) in 1945; his relationship with the now-mythic Evita; the violence and mysterious murders that punctuated his career; his tragic legacy, personified by his third wife, Isabel, who assumed the presidency after his death under the influence of a Rasputin-like astrologer; and the continuing appeal of Peronism in Argentina. Page's study of Argentine-American relations is particularly penetrating, especially in its description of the struggle between Perón and U.S. ambassador Spruille Braden. Joseph Page's ambitious, absorbing book sheds much-needed light on one of the most fascinating and least understood political figures of our times. His masterful portrait of this complex man will be required reading for anyone interested in Argentina, Latin America or the phenomenon of charismatic leadership.

Book by Solberg, Carl E.

FROM THE BOOK:"I want to touch you and kiss you.""You are my mother's sister and only one year older; you must have something of my mother in you."—A found child after being returned to her family. Searching for Life traces the courageous plight of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group of women who challenged the ruthless dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. Acting as both detectives and human rights advocates in an effort to find and recover their grandchildren, the Grandmothers identified fifty-seven of an estimated 500 children who had been kidnapped or born in detention centers.

The Grandmothers' work also led to the creation of the National Genetic Data Bank, the only bank of its kind in the world, and to Article 8 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the "right to identity," that is now incorporated in the new adoption legislation in Argentina. Rita Arditti has conducted extensive interviews with twenty Grandmothers and twenty-five others connected with their work; her book is a testament to the courage, persistence, and strength of these "traditional" older women. The importance of the Grandmothers' work has effectively transcended the Argentine situation. Their tenacious pursuit of justice defies the culture of impunity and the historical amnesia that pervades Argentina and much of the rest of the world today. In addition to reconciling the "living disappeared" with their families of origin, these Grandmothers restored a chapter of history that, too, had been abducted and concealed from its rightful heirs.