A review by naum
Silver, Sword, and Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story by Marie Arana

5.0

Not a history, not journalism (from author's own description of this work), but it is a kind of "big history" of Latin/South America, divided up into 3 sections -- "Silver" for all the metal and mining that drove economics and global capitalism and also swallowed up native populations (& imported African slaves) to serve as fodder; "Sword" for the conquest both before Spain & Portugal conquistadors came and after where countless revolutions and an endless stream of dictators still flow; "Stone" for religious aspects, rooted in native spiritual beliefs about stone & rocks, and then the wave of Catholocism and later modern day Protestant waves that merged in a syncretic spiritual sauce. Within each of these parts, a human story is interwoven -- for "Silver" it is a poor Peruvian miner widow named Leonor, for "Sword" it is a Cuban migrant named Carlos who served in Cuban army and later escaped Cuba as part of the Mariel boatlift affair in 1980, for "Stone" it is Jesuit priest Xavier Albo whose long life story arc also melds with prominent historical figures Pope Francis, Evo Morales, and persecuted/murdered Liberation Theology priests.