Peter V. N. Henderson provides a sweeping look at Uruguay’s political, economic, and social history from colonial times to the twenty-first century within a transnational context. This book dives into the country’s unique history that resulted in its nickname as “the Switzerland of South America” because of its broad democracy, balanced economy, sizable middle class, secular values, higher literacy rates, and generous and inclusive social legislation.

Uruguay’s origin is richly detailed, from its pre-colonial roots as Banda Oriental, to European colonization and the Spanish settlement of Montevideo, to the legendary caudillos Juan Lavalleja and Manuel Oribe and the creation of the independent state of Uruguay in 1828. Like other Latin American countries, it struggled with state formation. Then, a major change occurred at the end of the nineteenth century: policies following trends of modernization drastically overhauled the nation’s economic and social infrastructure and a national identity emerged in poetry and the arts. This book dives into the presidency of José Batlle y Ordóñez, the country’s involvement in World War II, and its economic and political collapse and eventual military seizure of the government in 1973. In 1985, the dictatorship reluctantly left power, and the country transitioned to its original democratic values. Social welfare programs, green energy programs unheard of in South America, and progressive policies flourish into the twenty-first century.