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A History of Chile, 1808-1994. By SIMON COLLIER and WILLIAM F. SATER.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Maps. Graphs. Tables. Glossary. Index.
xix, 427 pp. Cloth, $59.95 Paper, $18.95.
Histoire du Chili de la conquete a nos jours. By MARIE-NOELLE SARGET.
Paris: L'Harmattan, 1996. Photograph. Plates. Maps. Tables. Chronology.
Appendixes. Notes. Bibliography. 320 pp. Paper.
These works both complement and supplement recent book-length treatments of Chilean history. From the outset they are marked both by differences and similarities. Collier and Sater place their work within the context of traditional Chilean historiography; Sarget does not. Specialists and others will clearly see that Collier and Sater have written a scholarly book in the form of a general survey, and that Sarget has produced a very general work with limited scholarly pretensions. The former hews to a traditional path: history is politics (p. xiv); the latter claims to represent French historical thinking: history is more social and economic than political. Both attempt a comprehensive treatment with an emphasis on modern times, Collier and Sater with detail and...