Patria

Lost Countries of South America

Laurence Blair

$36.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Bodley Head
18 February 2025

History; History of the Americas; Social & cultural history; Sociology & anthropology; Travel writing

An adventurous, dazzling and original continent-sized history that brings South America's untold past and fascinating present to life

Stretching from the edge of Antarctica to the shores of the Caribbean, South America is a continent of stunning natural beauty and biodiversity, a cultural and culinary powerhouse that feeds, fuels and cools the planet. Yet this vast region remains an enigma to many outsiders, its 450 million inhabitants often forgotten, or stereotyped as eternal victims of colonialism, crime and corruption.

Patria reveals an alternative history of South America, spanning thousands of miles and five centuries to the present. Looking beyond modern borders, Laurence Blair takes as his waymarks nine countries that can't be found on a map- vanished realms, half-imagined utopias and dismembered homelands. He travels to each in turn - on foot and horseback, by rail and river - to trace their rise, fall and unexpected afterlives.

Blair goes in search of ancient Amazonian civilisations, a rebel Inca dynasty in the jungle, and the Patagonian power that defeated Imperial Spain. His journey ranges from a seafaring Peruvian kingdom made rich by bird droppings, to a fearsome nation of fugitives that defied slavery in Brazil, and an insurgent desert confederation that went down fighting with an Andalusian conman. He falls in with Bolivia's landlocked navy, the African freedom fighters who marched over the Andes to liberate the hemisphere, and the New World Napoleon who led Paraguay to its ruin.

Patria incorporates groundbreaking recent scholarship, striking archaeological discoveries and vivid eyewitness reporting - including encounters with drug lords, Indigenous leaders, refugees bound for the United States and former guerrillas - to weave an epic of survival, resistance and revolution. This is the story of South America as is rarely told- at the epicentre of global history and the forging of the modern world.

By: Laurence Blair
Imprint: Bodley Head
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 154mm, Spine: 33mm
Weight: 543g
ISBN: 9781847924698
ISBN 10: 1847924697
Pages: 448
Publication Date: 18 February 2025
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Laurence Blair is an award-winning writer and journalist. He was born and raised in Dorset, southwest England, and studied Ancient and Modern History at the University of Oxford. Since 2014, he has reported from across Latin America for outlets including the BBC, Economist, Financial Times, Guardian, New York Times and National Geographic. He currently lives in Asunci n, Paraguay.

Reviews for Patria: Lost Countries of South America

This book is a gem: an exuberant history of South America, written with scholarly verve and literary dexterity, and an unputdownable delight from start to finish. -- Jon Lee Anderson Praise for 150 Years of Solitude: Bolivia's Dreams of the Sea -- - Laurence Blair has invented a completely new genre of literature: magical journalism, at once fantastical and pragmatically droll. It's full of weird wit but also a deep sensitivity to the wounds of national sentiment. It's one of a kind -- Simon Schama Ambitious and far-reaching... integrating research into pre-Columbian remains with the contemporary experience of crossing borders as a sharp-eyed, backpacking witness -- Iain Sinclair A brilliantly mature intellectual jigsaw puzzle, combining... nationalistic history, with personal anecdote, travel writing and narrative sweep... a hugely ambitious project -- Caroline Daniel