PAULA ALONSO: Jardines secretos, legitimaciones públicas: El Partido Autonomista Nacional y la política argentina de fines del siglo XIX. Buenos Aires: EDHASA, 2010.

Abstract

This thoroughly researched and carefully argued book is a major contribution to the political history of 19^th-century Argentina. In Jardines secretos… Paula Alonso studies the workings of the Partido Autonomista Nacional (PAN), the political party that dominated Argentine politics between 1880 and 1916. Although the PAN has attracted significant attention among historians and social scientists, in this book Alonso takes an approach that allows her to open new perspectives on the subject: this is the first study that actually investigates the concrete day-to-day practices that shaped the party and that widely impacted the national political process.