Patria: Lost Countries of South America by Laurence Blair
I personally am a history geek and love learning about the history and culture of other places. Unfortunately though, I haven’t had much exposure to Mesoamerican and South American history beyond a few lessons in world history class. Thus, I felt that the book Patria: Lost Countries of South America by Laurence Blair would be a good way to get exposed to South American History.
The book itself is divided into 3 parts, 9 chapters, and a multitude of subchapters. While each section focuses on a different South American country or ethnic group, they are tied together with a common narrative: pre-European, when the Europeans arrived, and modern instability.
The pre-European subchapters throughout the novel gives a good idea of the foundational culture and lives of the indigenous people before European influence. For example, the people living in the Chincha kingdom learned how to use the valuable bird manure in order to help plants in the region thrive. The Amazonian women on the other hand were warriors; they knew how to use environmental resources to their advantage when fighting.
The plot would then go on to discuss European arrival and resistance. In the Inca empire for example, the emperor was initially welcoming, yet the Europeans still executed him. Another example is Angola Janga, a place where runaway slaves settled. Finally the book touches on the 19th and 20th century wars and politics which ultimately resulted in the modern day instability of many South American nations.
Throughout the book, Blair switches between first person narration and third person narration. When Blair is travelling between places, thinking, or noticing new sights, it is first person. Yet when factual information about a place is given, it is third person. In my opinion, the timeline of the book is confusing. Blair constantly jumps between a historical time (narrating as if he was in 1500) and his present; the constant switch makes it challenging to understand what he is writing about at times. The amount of information, characters, and extravagant vocabulary is overwhelming as well. The character list at the start of the book is 12 pages long and it isn’t a full list.
Additionally, while Blair attempts to be creative in the writing, there are several new vocabulary words per chapter that makes the book a challenging read. Furthermore, attempting to collapse the history of an entire continent into one book creates very dense text, with lots of information, that feels overwhelming. Despite this, I gained valuable insight about South American history and culture through reading this book, and would recommend it to anyone interested in South America. I would give this book a 3.5/5, however, if your reading level is very advanced, I think you will enjoy this book a lot.
Reviewed by Teen Volunteer, 6/6/2026.