Marta Irurozqui, Ciudadanos armados de ley: A propósito de la violencia en Bolivia, 1839–1875 (La Paz, Bolivia: Plural Editores, 2018), pp. 324, pb.
and the rebuilding of loyalty, the author turns to another theme in his closing chapters. Having argued that the restoration of royal authority was more than simply a tyrannical repression, he challenges the idea that the return of the republic was a ‘liberation’. Here, the argument revolves around a discussion of the origins and character of the concept of the ‘liberator’ in New Granada and, particularly, the development of the ‘cult of Bolívar’ in the space previously occupied by images of the king. This discussion throws new light on why, after 1819, it was possible to turn Bolívar into an icon, while also showing the interactions between Bolívar’s elevation and the establishment of a militarised, authoritarian state that merged New Granada and Venezuela. This book does not set out to offer a complete portrait of the Fernandine restoration in New Granada, but it certainly adds depth to the picture drawn by previous studies. The question of comparison is raised but only partially addressed, by contrasting the restoration of monarchy in New Granada to those which took place in Europe’s post-revolutionary states; the reader interested in Spanish America would welcomemore comparison with, say, Mexico and Peru, where the return of absolutist monarchy took place in different social and political circumstances. This is, nonetheless, a study replete with new information and ideas, and it produces a persuasive re-interpretation of the politics and experience of Spanish restoration in a strategic region of Spain’s empire. With its publication, Gutiérrez Ardila makes a worthy addition to his already very substantial contribution to the new historiography on New Granada’s independence. In so doing, he also provides insights into the fall of the Spanish empire that will interest all historians of that great historical shift.