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A landmark study of Liberalism, political conflict, and nation-building in Colombia.

Red Against Blue: The Liberal Party in Colombian Politics, 1863–1899 is a seminal study of the political forces that shaped modern Colombia during the nineteenth century. In this carefully researched work, historian Helen Delpar traces the rise, dominance, decline, and transformation of the Colombian Liberal Party, offering readers a deeper understanding of one of Latin America's most influential political movements. Through extensive use of political writings, personal papers, electoral records, and contemporary sources, Delpar reconstructs the complex world of Colombian politics during an era marked by ideological conflict, regional division, constitutional experimentation, and recurring civil unrest.

The book examines the period from the adoption of the federal Constitution of 1863 through the end of the nineteenth century, when Liberal leaders sought to shape Colombia's political future while confronting growing opposition from Conservative rivals. Delpar explores the origins of Colombian Liberalism, the development of party ideology, the regional bases of political support, and the personalities who guided the party through both triumph and defeat. Her analysis reveals a political movement that was far more diverse and dynamic than conventional interpretations have suggested.

As Liberal influence declined in the 1880s and Conservatives consolidated power under the Regeneration movement, political tensions intensified. Delpar shows how these struggles helped lay the groundwork for the devastating War of the Thousand Days at the century's close, one of the most significant conflicts in Colombian history.

Combining narrative history with insightful political analysis, Red Against Blue remains an indispensable resource for students and scholars of Latin American history, political development, democracy, and nation-building. It offers a compelling portrait of a society grappling with questions of power, ideology, regional identity, and the meaning of political participation in a rapidly changing world.

The South American nation of Colombia has experienced decades of violence involving state, guerrilla, and paramilitary actors, resulting in profound and enduring consequences. Scholars have examined both the violent events and the subsequent truth and reconciliation initiatives addressing this complex history. Pilar Riaño-Alcalá introduces a novel perspective by integrating Black, Indigenous, and memory studies in her analysis of two significant sites of mass violence: Bahia Portete, a Wayuu Indigenous territory in Upper Guajira, and Bojayá, a Black and Embera Indigenous territory in Chocó. By recognizing nonhuman and nonliving community members as actants and foregrounding Indigenous and Black ontologies in collective remembrance, Riaño-Alcalá reveals the processes through which these communities engage in social repair. She demonstrates how they interpret, restore, sustain, and reimagine their identities amid ongoing challenges posed by war and racial capitalism. This work advances scholarship in human rights studies, memory studies, Indigenous studies, Latin American studies, and the anthropology of social repair, offering significant new insights into a well-examined historical context.

This book presents an insider's account of Columbia's internal conflict. At the forefront are the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP).

Although they are one of the most powerful military forces in Latin American history, little is known about the FARC-EP. James J. Brittain explains where and why this political military movement came into existence and assesses whether the methods employed by the insurgency have the potential to free those marginalised in Colombia.

As democratic socialism develops in Venezuela and Bolivia, Brittain's fascinating study assesses the relevance of armed struggle to 21st century Latin American politics. This is an essential title for those wishing to develop a full understanding of the continent.

By evaluating the FARC-EP's actions, ideological construction, and their theoretical placement, the book gauges how this guerrilla movement relates to revolutionary theory and practice and through what tangible mechanisms, if any, they are creating a new Colombia.