Whelan reviews Chilean political history up to 1989. He carefully traces the circumstances leading to the military takeover in September of 1973. He presents the changes brought by the military government and highlights the process involved in reestablishing and redefining democracy in Chile. His work is meticulously documented. This helps to sustantiate his observations and argument, but at times his extensive use of tables tends to become tedious.
James Whelan
James R. Whelan is an American historian, the author of seven books, two of them on Chile, including a widely acclaimed history of that country, Out of the Ashes: Life, Death and Transfiguration of Democracy in Chile, 1833-1988 (Regnery). He served as Visiting Professor at the University of Chile, 1993-1995, and is now at work on a biography of Gen. Pinochet.