The Pelican Latin American Library (PLAL) was a specialist series of books published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

UK in the 1970s. The series was inaugurated in the wake of the success of another Penguin imprint, the Penguin African Library. The general editor of the series was

Richard Gott Richard Willoughby Gott (born 28 October 1938)''Winchester College: A Register''. Edited by P.S.W.K. McClure and R.P. Stevens, on behalf of the Wardens and Fellows of Winchester College. 7th edition, 2014. pp. 271 (Short Half 1952 list heading) ...

, the longtime Latin America correspondent of the

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

. The series took off at a time when Latin American politics was buffeted by numerous challenges such as military dictatorship, American hegemony, widespread poverty, and guerrilla uprisings often inspired by

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

liberation theology. The first book in the series was Carlos Marighela's '' For the Liberation of Brazil'', translated by John Butt and Rosemary Sheed. Other titles published in the series were: *

Alain Labrousse Alain Labrousse (19 February 1937 – 6 July 2016) was a French sociologist and journalist who specialized in Latin American politics and the geopolitics of drugs. Biography He was born in Libourne, Gironde. He studied literature in Bordeaux, ...

, ''The Tupamaros'' *

Alain Gheerbrant Alain Gheerbrant (27 December 1920 – 21 February 2013) was a French writer, editor, poet and explorer, noted for his expedition in the basins of Amazonian rivers. Career Alain Gheerbrant was the first avant-garde publisher, founder of the p ...

, ''The Rebel Church in Latin America'' *

Andre Gunder Frank Andre Gunder Frank (February 24, 1929 – April 25, 2005) was a German- American sociologist and economic historian who promoted dependency theory after 1970 and world-systems theory after 1984. He employed some Marxian concepts on polit ...

, ''Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America'' *

Camilo Torres Restrepo Camilo Torres Restrepo (3 February 1929 – 15 February 1966) was a Colombia, Colombian Catholic communism, Catholic communist and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist-Leninist revolutionary, Catholic Church, catholic Priesthood in the Catholic Church, ...

, ''Revolutionary Priest'' * Carlos Marighela, ''For the Liberation of Brazil'' *

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

, ''Guerrilla Warfare'' *

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

, '' Fidel Castro Speaks'' *

Francisco Julião Francisco Julião Arruda de Paula (1915-1999) was a Brazilian lawyer, politician and writer. He was born in Recife to a family of landowners. After studying law at university, he dedicated himself to defending peasants who had been expelled from ...

, ''Cambão - the Yoke: The Hidden Face of Brazil'' *

Gerrit Huizer Gerrit Jan Huizer (1929–1999) was a Dutch writer and scholar. He was born in 1929 in Arnhem. He studied at the Municipal University of Amsterdam. Starting in 1955, he lived and worked in various Third World countries for nearly two decades, in p ...

, ''Peasant Rebellion in Latin America'' * Jean-Pierre Bernard et al., '' Guide to the Political Parties of South America'' * John Womack Jr., ''Zapata and the Mexican Revolution'' * Marcel Niedergang, ''The Twenty Latin Americas, vols 1 and 2'' *

Miguel Arraes Miguel Arraes de Alencar (15 December 1916 – 13 August 2005) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician. He was mayor of Recife, State Deputy, Federal Deputy and three times Governor of Pernambuco. Birth Arraes was born in Araripe in the state ...

, ''Brazil: The People and the Power'' * Paul Gallet, ''Freedom to Starve'' * Regis Debray, ''Revolution in the Revolution?'' * Regis Debray, ''Strategy for Revolution'' *

, ''Rural Guerrillas in Latin America'' *

Sven Lindqvist Sven Oskar Lindqvist (28 March 1932 – 14 May 2019) was a prolific Swedish author whose 35 books range from essays, aphorisms, autobiography, and documentary prose to travel and reportage. He was educated at Stockholm University, and spent a ye ...

, ''The Shadow: Latin America Faces the Seventies'' * Thomas Melville and Marjorie Melville, ''Guatemala – Another Vietnam?'' * Victor Daniel Bonilla, ''Servants of God or Masters of Men?'' *

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

, '' Chile's Road to Socialism'' Due to the perception of

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

bias in the series, there was friction with the corporate owner

Pearson Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is ...

and the imprint was eventually ceased.'The Pelican Latin American Library' by Mike Davis, ''The Penguin Collector 81'', December 2013

References

{{Authority control History of South America