Shining Path : Terror and Revolution in Peru

A detailed account of Peru's Shining Path explores the devastating impact of the terrorist revolutionaries on Peru; exposes the group's history, bizarre ideology, and global links; and examines the potential international implications of the Shining Path. 12,500 first printing.

Strong, a freelance journalist living in Peru, has provided an up-to-the-minute introduction to the most successful Communist revolutionary movement today, the Communist Party of Peru by the Shining Path of Jose Carlos Mariategui and Marxism, Leninism, Maoism, and the Thoughts of President Gonzalo, to give its full name. Unfortunately, Strong devotes most of the book to direct translations from Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path in Spanish) newspapers and books--which offer the full splendor of Marxist dialectic prose. There is no critical discussion of what Sendero has actually accomplished by its campaign of terror. When two sides, the Peruvian government and Sendero, are as far apart as they are, there is a tremendous need for a neutral, scholarly, or at least journalistic account of the struggle--not this rapid compendium of quotes from the partisan press. While not a perfect exposition, The Shining Path of Peru , edited by David Scott Palmer (St. Martin's, 1992) is a better choice. Not recommended.
- Nancy Padgett Lazar, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.