Catherine Davies, Claire Brewster and Hilary Owen, South American Independence: Gender, Politics, Text (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2006), pp. xi+321, £50.00, hb.
dominated by creoles. This was attempted through the introduction of intendentes, whose subdelegados assumed responsibility for urban finance and a wide range of public works. At the same time, the power of cabildos over their cities’ hinterlands was reduced. In attempting to provide order and symmetry to the towns, the authorities began to separate public from private space, constructing new public buildings, regulating markets and public spaces, cleaning the streets, and organising police forces (alcaldes de barrios) based on designated districts. While the major cities grew, Lucena Giraldo shows that growth was greatest in areas of substantial European and African slave immigration, such as Caracas, Buenos Aires and Havana, and in fortified frontier towns ; while most major cities saw an increased military presence. Finally, in the Conclusion, he describes how conflicts with the British in Venezuela and Argentina, followed by the wars of independence were catastrophic for urban development in many parts of region. This is well-conceived book. It is one of the few to consider the whole colonial period in some detail. Another of its strengths is its wide coverage of cities at different levels in the urban hierarchy and in different regions, whereas many texts concentrate on the major capital cities. Nevertheless, this is a book that approaches the topic very much from the perspective of how Spain’s power was reflected in the physical plan and structure of the city. Those seeking an economic or social history of cities, and especially the role of non-Spanish groups, will have to look elsewhere. That said, the book is based on a very wide-range of published sources and constitutes a sound introduction to the nature of urbanism in colonial Spanish America. The topic lends itself to the use of illustrations and it is disappointing that none are included. Nevertheless, it is written in a lively manner and is a welcome addition to the literature on the Spanish colonial city in the Spanish language.