Sandinistas

"Robert J. Sierakowski argues that the promise of moral regeneration and the imposition of 'law and order' became the key factor that drew the population of the rural north to the Sandinista vision of revolution. This argument about the distinctive radical nature of the Sandinistas is intriguing and makes an important contribution to the field." —Lindsey Churchill, author of Becoming the Tupamaros

"In Sandinistas: A Moral History, Robert J. Sierakowski brilliantly moves away from the Cold War matrix to examine the rise and fall of the Sandinista movement of the 1970s and 1980s. This is essential reading for anyone interested not only in the Sandinistas of the 1980s, but also for those seeking to understand the complicated moral landscape in Nicaragua today." —Virginia Garrard, author of Terror in the Land of the Holy Spirit

"An absolutely essential contribution to understanding Nicaraguan society and the Nicaraguan revolution from the bottom up. With deep sympathy for the poor Nicaraguans who were drawn into the brutality of the National Guard and the Contras, as well as those who threw their lives into building a revolutionary society, this book offers a completely new gendered interpretation of the 1979 revolution and of Nicaraguan culture and society." —Aviva Chomsky, author of A History of the Cuban Revolution

"Sierakowski reveals a compelling paradox at the center of the Sandinista insurgency, namely, that a radical social movement can respond to the masses’ 'conservative' demands—moral regeneration, family harmony, and the preservation of tradition—which the Somoza regime abandoned. Historiographically aware, deeply rooted in original evidence and lucidly written, this is an excellent study that will make a lasting mark." —Erik Ching, author of Stories of Civil War in El Salvador

“Sierakowski does not so much overturn received wisdom about the Sandinista Revolution as retell it through a new lens of moral regeneration. He reveals a paradox at the center of the Sandinistas that has not received sufficient scholarly attention to date, namely that a core aspect of the Sandinistas’ popular support was their appeal to ‘conservative’ values, which the Somoza dictatorship had trampled.” —Choice