982: A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century by Luis Alberto Romero

982.06: Romero, Luis Alberto. A History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century. Translated by James P. Brennan. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002. 349 pp. ISBN 0-271-02192-6.

Dewey Breakdown:

• 900: History and Geography
• 980: History of South America
• 982: History of Argentina
• 982.06: Period of later republic, 1861 to present

In his History of Argentina in the Twentieth Century, Luis Romero tries to write a different kind of history. He has “attempted to reconstruct the history—complex, contradictory, and unique—of a society that unquestionably has experienced better moment and that finds itself currently at one of the lowest points in its history but whose future is not, I trust, definitively sealed.” This is remarkable for two reasons. First, he is not out to champion is country, and second, he owns up to the fact that history is sometimes contradictory and unfun.

986: Even Silence Has an End by Ingrid Betancourt

986.10634092: Betancourt, Ingrid. Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle. New York: Penguin, 2010. 528 pp. ISBN 1-101-43891-6.

Dewey Breakdown:

• 900: History and geography
• 980: History of South America
• 986: History of Columbia and Ecuador
• 986.1: History of Columbia
• 986.106: 1863 to present
• 986.1063: 1930 to present
• 986.10634: 1974 to 1991
• +092: Biography

Without a doubt, Ingrid Betancourt’s Even Silence Has an End is one of the most heart-breaking, gut-wrenching memoirs I’ve read in a long time. In 2002, Betancourt was campaigning to become President of Colombia as a Green Party member. At a traffic checkpoint in Colombia’s DMZ, she was kidnapped by a member of the revolutionary FARC, and then held for more than six years. She was kept with many other captured people from around the world. She found herself among a mix of nationalities, social statuses, and walks of life. Her story is one of hope and loss, of freedom and failure.

983: The Dictator’s Shadow by Heraldo Munoz

983.065: Munoz, Heraldo. The Dictator’s Shadow: Life Under Augusto Pinochet. New York: Basic Books, 2008. 314 pp. ISBN 978-0-465-00250-4.

Dewey Breakdown:

• 900: History and Geography
• 980: History of South America
• 983: History of Chile
• 983.06: Period of later republics, 1861 to present
• 983.065: Period of military rule, 1973-1990

Following a US-backed coup d’etat to overthrow Salvador Allende in 1973, Commander-in-Chief of the Army Augusto Pinochet became the totalitarian leader of the country of Chile. He ruled with an iron fist for the next seventeen years, rounding up political opponents and dissidents, until he opened the country to democracy and was defeated in an election in 1990. Heraldo Munoz, former Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations and survivor of both the Allende and Pinochet governments, brings to light the day-to-day struggle during the country’s period of military rule in The Dictator’s Shadow.

980: Che on My Mind by Margaret Randall

980.035092: Randall, Margaret. Che on My Mind. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013. 138 pp. ISBN 978-0-8223-5578-6.

Dewey Breakdown:

• 900: History and Geography
• 980: History of South America
• 980.03: 1830-1999
• 980.035: 1950-1959
• +092: Biography

Margaret Randall’s Che on My Mind is a history of South America, citizen rebellion, and deep-felt loss. Randall moved to Mexico in the early 1960s for a change in scenery from the McCarthyism still brewing in the US, married a Mexican poet, and became enamored with the culture there. While she gets to Cuba only after Che Guevara is assassinated, her relationship with Che’s sister and her own past inform her story. It is a story of reflection, of revolution, and of redemption.

985: Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams

985.37: Adams, Mark. Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time. New York: Plume, 2012. 292 pp. ISBN 978-0-452-29798-2.

Dewey Construction:

• 900: History and Geography
• 980: History of South America
• 985: History of Peru
• 985.3: History of the Southern department of Peru
• 983.37: History of the Inca regions of Peru

Mark Adams always wanted to be an adventurer. After years of dead-end jobs, he became the editor of a travel publication, sending folks on assignments to far-off lands and collecting their stories for the masses. Far from being an actual adventurer, he realized he was a poser. While you can read about tourist attractions all day, the written word can never replace the actual experience. So, he decided to do something about it.

981: The Mapmaker’s Wife by Robert Whitaker

981.1032092: Whitaker, Robert. The Mapmaker’s Wife: A True Tale Of Love, Murder, And Survival In The Amazon. New York: Basic Books, 2004. 295 pp. ISBN 0-7382-0808-6.

Dewey Breakdown:

• 900: History and Geography
• 980: History of South America
• 981: History of Brazil
• 981.1: History of the Amazon River
• +032: 18^th Century
• +092: Biography

Imagine being a Peruvian girl in the eighteenth century. Your family has a rich French heritage and you dream of one day going there and marrying a French landowner. Then, one day, as an eight-year old in a convent school you hear that a team of French scientists have arrived in the territory and are working alongside your family and neighbors. At age thirteen, the signal carrier and junior geographer of the team, having become a friend of the family and trusted foreigner, successfully asks for your hand in marriage. But then, eight years later, your husband goes off into the Amazonian jungle to carve out a route to take you and the family to Europe.

And for twenty years, you never hear from him.