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Coffee and Conflict in Colombia, 1886–1910 . By Charles W. Bergquist. (Durham, N.C.: 1978). x + 277 pp. $16.75.)

Charles Bergquist has written a remarkable study, a fundamental contribution to the history of Colombia. This book is a meticulously researched, tightly argued, and lucidly written analysis of Colombian history during the period when the country became thoroughly integrated into the modern international trading economy. As the title suggests, coffee was the export product that propelled this economic transformation, and conflict was the political result of the wrenching readjustments that Colombian society experienced as coffee export interests battled with traditional economic sectors for control of the state. The central event in this political struggle over economic policy was the tragic War of the Thousand Days (1899-1902). It is to Bergquist's credit that he makes sense out of the causes, events, and consequences of this extremely complicated and hitherto poorly understood conflict. His is by far the clearest and most analytical treatment of this Colombian civil war in the English-language historiography. Bergquist does not discount the importance of political ideology or personal hatreds as forces motivating the war, but he also employs political economy as an analytical tool to unravel and explain why Colombia descended into what most historians have tended to describe as senseless slaughter. A slaughter it certainly was (an estimated one hundred thousand died), but Bergquist shows that there was a kind of grim political and economic logic behind these events. Professional historians will appreciate the beautiful research that this book embodies. In a field (Latin American political economy) where books too often are based on slapstick evidence and jerrybuilt theories, Bergquist provides real intellectual substance. He has culled Colombian archives, consulted a wide variety of Bogota newspapers of the epoch, employed the United States and British diplomatic reports, and used an astonishing variety of secondary works, including novels, memoirs, and biographies. The result is a richly documented and thoroughly fascinating study. The book would be stronger if Bergquist had presented a systematic typology of Colombian political parties. And one would also like to see a clear discussion of the economic bases of Colombian political regionalism. This analysis would be particularly useful to readers unfamiliar with this large and diverse country. Despite these problems, the book is recommended for beginning students as well as advanced scholars. There is no better history of modern Colombia available in the English language.