Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Recollections of a Provincial Past is the best known of several autobiographies by 19th century Argentinean Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. Local history books describe him as the second of three founding presidents of the Argentine nation. He remains one of Latin America's most influential writers as wellas one of its more controversial and contested political figures.

A classic work of Latin American literature, Domingo Sarmiento's "Facundo" has become an integral part of the history, politics, and culture of Latin America since its first publication in 1845. Partially translated into English when it was first published, this foundational text appears here for the first time in its entirety. An educator and writer, Sarmiento was President of Argentina from 1868 to 1874. His "Facundo" is a study of the Argentine character, a prescription for the modernization of Latin America, and a protest against the tyranny of the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas (1835-1852). The book brings nineteenth-century Latin American history to life even as it raises questions still being debated today - questions regarding the 'civilized' city versus the 'barbaric' countryside, the treatment of indigenous and African populations, and the classically liberal plan of modernization. "Facundo"'s celebrated and frequently anthologized portraits of the caudillo Juan Facundo Quiroga and other colorful characters give readers an exhilarating sense of Argentine culture in the making. Kathleen Ross' translation renders Sarmiento's passionate prose into English with all its richness intact, allowing the English-language reader the full experience of "Facundo"'s intensity and historical reach.