Republics of Knowledge: Nations of the Future in Latin America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020. 304p. Paper, $39.95 (ISBN 9780691176758).

Abstract

In Republics of Knowledge: Nations of the Future in Latin America, Nicola Miller, Professor of Latin American history at the University College London, offers a two-part book addressing the history of knowledge in Spanish America from independence in 1810 to 1910, when governments understood the importance of access to public knowledge as a key feature of modern nations. From a multipractice perspective, Miller addresses the contribution to knowledge by different people, institutions, societal manifestations, public debates, policy-making, and collective identities. The author relies on three case studies involving Chile, Argentina, and Peru and the transnational connections that are made during the nineteenth century with other countries in Spanish America. Miller’s academic narrative style, set to Arno, and Old-style serif typeface in the classic Venetian tradition, is supported by citations and tables, taking the reader on a 10-chapter journey back in history covering topics including national and public libraries, literacy, infrastructure, land and territory, and the purpose of education.