|
|
|
from
Publishers
Weekly
Marco Aurelio Navarro-Génie offers a spiritual biography
of a Nicaraguan revolutionary in Augusto "César" Sandino:
Messiah of Light and Truth. Sandino, an early 20th-century firebrand
from whom the Sandinista government later took its name, has been studied
before, but not with this kind of attention to his unique theology and
millenarian worldview. At the end of his life, he believed himself to
be the Messiah, and his determination to free his people from oppression
deeply influenced liberation theologians later in the 20th century. This
is an accessible biography with a fresh, long-overdue perspective. (Syracuse
Univ., ISBN 0-8156-2949-4; Jul. 2002) from
CHOICE
(20 February 2003)
This thin and well-crafted volume outlines the career
of the Nicaraguan leader who wngaged in a heroic strugle with the US
Marine Corps between 1927 and 1932. Navarro-Génie offers a psychological
analysis of the intrepid revolutionary leader who was haunted by the
stigma of illegitimacy and obsessed with a sense of personal dignity.
Influenced by positivism, nationalism, Marxism, and most importantly,
spiritualism, Sandino was convinced that he was an instrument of God
in a classic case of millenarianism. The rebel commander justified all
acts of violence and cruelty in the name of God, especially those against
the US Marines, who were branded as agents of evil who had defiled the
sacred body of the motherland. The long-range influence of Sandino was
demonstrated in 1979 when the movement that perpetuated his name seized
power in Managua, once again denoucing the US as the personification
of evil. Although the Sandinistas were defeated at the ballot box in
1989, the legacy of their "messiah" has not been extinguished.
In fact, the religious zeal of 1927 has taken on a new meaning at the
beginning of the new century. This book adds greatly to the literature
on the enigma that is Nicaragua. --E. H. Moseley, emeritus, University
of Alabama.
from Booknews
Most accounts of Sandino (1895-1934) and his resistance
to US domination of Nicaragua in the 1920s and 1930s focus on his politics.
Nicaraguan native Navarro-Génie (political science, St. Mary's
College and Mount Royal College, Calgary) brings his religious ideas
and dispositions into the picture, and factors them into his political
activities. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
|
