Fearful Vassals presents a major re-interpretation of Spanish colonial rule, by a leading historian of that period. Based on deep archival research, and panoramic in its approach, the book explores subaltern groups of colonial society--urban laborers, enslaved Africans, indigenous people, and others--and shows how fears of possible social disruption from those groups helped keep local elites loyal to Spanish rule.--George Reid Andrews, University of Pittsburgh
Peter Blanchard's new book is an ambitious effort to examine the antecedents of May 25, 1810. The author is an established historian of colonial Río de la Plata with broad archival experience. His ambition is made clear by the geographic breadth of his research. In a field focused on the viceregal capital city, Blanchard's decision to examine the viceroyalty's three largest cities, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Córdoba, is a welcome expansion in scale and perspective. Every specialist will also appreciate the rich historical detail that propels his narrative of late colonial social and political history.-- "Hispanic American Historical Review"
This is a vital history of fealty to monarchy and empire in Spanish America. Peter Blanchard's book is a fascinating voyage through elite culture on the eve of revolution. Even under duress, opportunism, shared values, and common threats kept patrician classes in line. No one has excavated the reasons and roots for this loyalism as thoroughly and as compellingly as Blanchard. Along the way, he offers a complex portrait of three very different kinds of cities, cities which feuded with each other more than they did with Spain.--Jeremy I. Adelman, Princeton University