The Plebeian Republic

“[A]nuanced and sophisticated analysis of regional society within the context of large-scale and sometimes dramatic political changes. . . .” - Michiel Baud, European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

“Méndez has produced an important, painstaking study of a fascinating early episode of Peruvian nation-state formation.” - Nils Jacobsen, American Historical Review

“The book under review is. . . . a model attempt at integration, since it not only accounts for the complex moment of transition—that of the making of the Peruvian state—but also raises again old questions and provides new answers.” - Raquel Gil Montero, Social History

“This book contributes substantially to our understanding of peasant political participation in state formation in Latin America . . . . The book definitively contributes to a new political history of the nineteenth century . . . . In fact, the formation of democratic tendencies in the 1930s, the particular character of the Peruvian military, the relevance of indigenista ideology, and the resistance of this region’s peasantry to Senderista violence can also be better understood after reading this book.” - Valeria Coronel, Hispanic American Historical Review

“This book contributes to our understanding of the process of state-building, by raising questions about the role of rural society in the formation of the national state. It offers an excellent view, particularly at the micro-historical level, of the changing relationship between state and society during a fascinating period of intense change in Peru.” - Iñigo García-Bryce, Canadian Journal of History

“This is a very rich book, both in ideas and in research. Mendez's reconceptualization of peasant politics for the nineteenth century will be influential. While many scholars will not agree with all of Mendez' conclusions, they are thought provoking and have wide-ranging implications for the rest of Latin America. This is an important book that adds considerably to the debate on the nature of the Latin American nation-state in the nineteenth century.” - Erick D. Langer, Journal of Social History

“This is an elegantly written work of mature scholarship; there is no better study of an Andean insurgency, and its manifold contributions significantly advance our understanding of Andean historiography in the late-colonial and subsequent republican decades, perhaps even to the present”
- David Cahill, Ethnohistory

"Provocative." - Peter Blanchard, History: Reviews of New Books

"The book, while contributing to Peruvian historiography, is driven by a forceful message about the complexity of early republican Spanish America and is an impressive effort to grapple with difficult questions. . . . Recommended." - J. Rosenthal, Choice

"This is an immense contribution not only to the study of nineteenth century Peruvian history, but to the scholarship of the region and must be read by every specialist wishing to gain further understanding of the rural Andes." - Natalia Sobrevilla Perea, Journal of Latin American Studies

“The Plebeian Republic is a well-done and welcome contribution to ongoing debates on the meaning of political independence from Spain and the difficulties the new nation-states faced in creating new political, economic, and social spaces. Cecilia Méndez not only asks new questions but, in answering them, dismantles long-held assumptions about the nonparticipation of manifold social groups in the construction of politics.” - Christine Hünefeldt, author of Liberalism in the Bedroom: Quarreling Spouses in Nineteenth-Century Lima

“The Plebeian Republic is an exciting and pathbreaking examination of state formation seen from a local perspective. Cecilia Méndez offers a convincing analysis of how people who are usually seen as ‘acted upon’ and reacting to political events develop and act on political strategies of their own. I found this a wonderful read.” - Karen Spalding, author of Huarochirí: An Andean Society under Inca and Spanish Rule