Paired Lives in Latin America’s Cold War takes a biographical approach to teaching the history of the Cold War in Latin America and provides a unique overview to a period that is steeped in reform, revolution, and repression.

The chosen pairs from major countries represent the vast number of leaders, intellectuals, and “ordinary people” who all hoped for significant socioeconomic transformation of one kind or another. Such figures include presidents, revolutionary leaders, army generals, a founder of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, democracy and union activists from countries such as Guatemala, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Argentina, and Nicaragua. Primary documents such as speeches, interviews, memoirs, and diaries are used to emphasize individuals’ reflections on their experiences and understanding of the Cold War, such as Che Guevara’s diary which recounts his failed insurgency in Bolivia.

By including biographies with a large geographical scope from across the political spectrum, this study is a useful introduction for students with little prior knowledge of the Cold War in Latin America. Aided by a Chronology, Who’s Who, Glossary, and Guide to Further Reading, this volume is useful for all students who study the Cold War in Latin America.