The Shining Path: A History of the Millenarian War in Peru / Edition 1

by Gustavo Gorriti

Overview

First published in Peru in 1990, The Shining Path was immediately hailed as one of the finest works on the insurgency that plagued that nation for over fifteen years. A richly detailed and absorbing account, it covers the dramatic years between the guerrillas' opening attack in 1980 and President Fernando Belaunde's reluctant decision to send in the military to contain the growing rebellion in late 1982. Covering the strategy, actions, successes, and setbacks of both the government and the rebels, the book shows how the tightly organized insurgency forced itself upon an unwilling society just after the transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime.

One of Peru's most distinguished journalists, Gustavo Gorriti first covered the Shining Path movement for the leading Peruvian newsweekly, Caretas. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and an impressive array of government and Shining Path documents, he weaves his careful research into a vivid portrait of the now-jailed Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman, Belaunde and his generals, and the unfolding drama of the fiercest war fought on Peruvian soil since the Chilean invasion a century before.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807846766
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	02/22/1999
Series:	Latin America in Translation/en Traducción/em Tradução
Edition description:	1
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.72(d)

About the Author

In addition to his work for Caretas, Gustavo Gorriti has been a frequent contributor to the New York Times, the New Republic, and the Los Angeles Times. Currently, he is deputy editor of Panama's La Prensa. Robin Kirk is author of The Monkey's Paw: New Chronicles from Peru and coeditor of The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction by Robin Kirk
Preface to the English Edition
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
The Arrest
1. Return to Democracy
2. Chuschi
3. Mohammed, Mao, Macbeth
4. Expectations and the Transfer of Power
5. The Vanished Files
6. The Dogs of War
7. Guerrillas
8. The Quota
9. To Capture Weapons and Means
10. New Democracy
11. Tambo
12. The Emergency
13. Illusions
14. A City Dominated: A Blow Is Struck in Ayacucho
15. Let Us Develop the Guerrilla War
16. The Offer of Asylum to Guzmán
17. The Colloquium of the Blind: The Intelligence War
18. The Fall of Vilcashuamán
19. Party Military Thought
20. The Siege of Ayacucho

Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

Joel Simon

Reads like a noir thriller....A stunning work of investigative journalism carried out under the most difficult circumstances.

From the Publisher

Masterfully translated by Robin Kirk. . . . Gorriti skillfully relates the story of Sendero members, victims, and targets, weaving together a coherent description of the movement that challenged the survival of Peru as a nation.—Latin American Research Review



Impeccably researched, rigorous in its analysis, and often elegant in its prose (as well as expertly translated by Robin Kirk), this important book is fundamental reading for those who wish to understand the Shining Path.—The Historian



This important book . . . represents one of the most informative accounts of the first phase of the insurrection launched by the Partido Comunista del Peru - Sendero Luminoso.—Latin American Studies



Rich in the detail of Peruvian political life, the description is so lively that even the nonspecialist will appreciate this work. Strongly recommended to general readers, Latin American and Peruvian specialists, and students of revolutionary strategy.—Choice



Not the least important part of this remarkable book (originally published in Spanish in 1991) is its analysis of the turgid repetitions of the canonical texts of Marxism and, above all, Maoism, that were central to Sendero Luminoso. . . . Provides a brilliant indictment of the ineffective and corrupt police and intelligence services.—Times Literary Supplement



Gorriti's classic account of the Sendero Luminoso retains all its immediacy and explanatory power in this fine translation by Robin Kirk. . . . A fine introduction to one of Latin America's most gruesome conflicts in years.—Foreign Affairs



The Shining Path offers an insightful and painstakingly detailed account of one of the most infamous guerrilla groups in Latin American history. Gorriti reminds us of the forceful impact of serious investigative reporting and the risk journalists face to reveal the truth.—Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director, Americas division, Human Rights Watch



With its vivid characters and tales of intrigue and violence, The Shining Path reads like a noir thriller. Yet Gustavo Gorriti's account of Peru's Maoist revolutionaries also describes in intricate detail a strategy for radical change which continues to be emulated by terrorist groups around the world. This is a stunning work of investigative journalism carried out under the most difficult circumstances.—Joel Simon, Americas program coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists



Writing at the depths of a war that had plunged Peru into chaos and fear, Gustavo Gorriti produced one of the pioneering works of Latin American investigative journalism. This book endures not just as the essential history of the origins of Shining Path—uncompromising, literary, impeccably sourced—but as an act of moral courage.—Philip Bennett, national news deputy editor, Washington Post



Gorriti's careful mastery of detail and his fine narrative sense make [this] an absorbing account.—Latin American Research Review

Editorial Reviews

Gorriti reminds us of the forceful impact of serious investigative reporting and the risk journalists face to reveal the truth.

Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director, Americas division, Human Rights Watch

One of the most informative accounts of the first phase of the insurrection launched by the Partido Comunista del Peru .

"Latin American Studies"

Gorriti's classic account of the Sendero Luminoso retains all its immediacy and explanatory power in this fine translation.

"Foreign Affairs"

Gorriti_s classic account of the Sendero Luminoso retains all its immediacy and explanatory power in this fine translation.

"Foreign Affairs"

Gorritia[s classic account of the Sendero Luminoso retains all its immediacy and explanatory power in this fine translation.

"Foreign Affairs"

ÝO¨ne of the most informative accounts of the first phase of the insurrection launched by the Partido Comunista del Peru .

"Latin American Studies"

Gorriti skillfully relates the story of Sendero members, victims, and targets, weaving together a coherent description of the movement.

"Latin American Research Review"

Gorritis classic account of the Sendero Luminoso retains all its immediacy and explanatory power in this fine translation.

"Foreign Affairs"

"Gorriti reminds us of the forceful impact of serious investigative reporting and the risk journalists face to reveal the truth.

Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director, Americas division, Human Rights Watch"

"Gorriti skillfully relates the story of Sendero members, victims, and targets, weaving together a coherent description of the movement.

"Latin American Research Review""

[O]ne of the most informative accounts of the first phase of the insurrection launched by the Partido Comunista del Peru .

"Latin American Studies"

GorritiUs classic account of the Sendero Luminoso retains all its immediacy and explanatory power in this fine translation.

"Foreign Affairs"

Provides a brilliant indictment of the ineffective and corrupt police and intelligence services.

"Times Literary Supplement"

From the Publisher

One of the pioneering works of Latin American investigative journalism....Endures not just as the essential history of the origins of Shining Path...but as an act of moral courage. -- Washington Post

Philip Bennett