Philip tackles the major problems posed by military radicalism in Peru between 1968 and 1976. He discusses the ideology of the military, the commitment of the officer corps to reform, the degree of reformism, and the limits of popular participation, and attempts to answer why it was possible for a radical military government to arise in Peru. The answers contribute not only to an understanding of modern Peru but also to the general study of the military in politics.

While leftist governments have been elected across Latin America, this 'Pink Tide' has so far failed to reach Peru. Instead, the corporate elite remains firmly entrenched, and the left continues to be marginalised. Peru therefore represents a particularly stark example of 'state capture', in which an extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of a few corporations and pro-market technocrats has resulted in a monopoly on political power. Post the 2016 elections, John Crabtree and Francisco Durand look at the ways in which these elites have been able to consolidate their position at the expense of genuine democracy, with a particular focus on the role of mining and other extractive industries, where extensive privatization and deregulation has contributed to extreme disparities in wealth and power. In the process, Crabtree and Durand provide a unique case study of state development, by revealing the mechanisms used by elites to dominate political discussion and marginalize their opponents, as well as the role played by external actors such as international financial institutions and foreign investors. The significance of Crabtree's findings therefore extends far beyond Peru, and illuminates the wider issue of why mineral-rich countries so often struggle to attain meaningful democracy.

As in most of the rest of Latin America, Peruvian economic strategy has gone in something of a circle, from long-established orientation toward an open economy with minimal state intervention to a period of state-led development, then back again to what looks like the starting point. In the 1960s, the Peruvian people had their first real chance to make a democratic choice between continuation of the country's open-economy orientation or change, & they chose change. Using this as his starting point, Sheahan explains how their choice was not provoked by any economic crisis but by other major influences. The majority of Peruvians, he shows, were seeking objectives more fundamental than economic growth. They were, with conflicting visions but with many good reasons, "searching for a better society." While positive accomplishments have been important, enough went wrong to lead Peru back to a more market-determined economic system in 1990. Sheahan addresses the consequences of this return to the earlier economic strategy & what might be done to shape the process of development-in Peru & in Latin America more generally-toward less unfair societies. Searching for a Better Society is different from the great majority of economic studies of developing countries in its emphasis on the basic role of social dissatisfaction with the country's traditional liberal economic system & on the complexity of social goals involved in evaluation of the choice & consequences of economic policies.

Bringing much-needed historical perspectives to debates about an idiosyncratic period in modern Latin American history, scholars from the United States and Peru reassess the meaning and legacy of Peru's left-leaning military dictatorship.