The Paraguayan War (1864–70) was the most extensive and profound interstate war ever fought in South America. It directly involved the four countries of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay and took the lives of hundreds of thousands, combatants and noncombatants alike. While the war still stirs emotions on the southern continent, until today few scholars from outside the region have taken on the daunting task of analyzing the conflict. In this compilation of ten essays, historians from Canada, the United States, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay address its many tragic complexities. Each scholar examines a particular facet of the war, including military mobilization, home-front activities, the war’s effects on political culture, war photography, draft resistance, race issues, state formation, and the role of women in the war. The editors’ introduction provides a balance to the many perspectives collected here while simultaneously integrating them into a comprehensible whole, thus making the book a compelling read for social historians and military buffs alike.

Hendrik Kraay is an associate professor of history and political science at the University of Calgary. He is the editor of Afro-Brazilian Culture and Politics: Bahia, 1790s to 1900s and the author of Race, State, and Armed Forces in Independence-Era Brazil: Bahia, 1790s–1840s. Thomas L. Whigham is a professor of history at the University of Georgia. He is the author of The Paraguayan War, Volume 1: Causes and Early Conduct (Nebraska 2002) and The Politics of River Trade: Tradition and Development in the Upper Plata, 1780–1870.

“This book will appeal to a wide range of historians, covering issues of gender, race, popular political culture, but also state- and nation-building more broadly.”—Wiebke Ipsen, Luso-Brazilian Review

"These essays are a major contribution to Paraguayan and regional historiography."—Vera Blinn Reber, American Historical Review

"A welcome addition to the corpus on the military history of South America and the editors and contributors are to be commended for their efforts."—Matthew Hughes, Journal of Military History

“I Die with My Country is recommended for those with a passion for field medicine, and the administration and management of casualties in warfare. Those medical planners, medics, and corpsmen supporting the Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Area of Operation might find it very useful reading.”—LCDR Aboul-Enein, Navy Medicine

“Ten essays by eight notable specialists on various aspects of the Paraguayan War. The essays, which are well written and quite readable, all break new ground in various ways, such as discussing allegations of the Brazilian Army employed black troops as cannon fodder or examining the role of the Paraguay’s women in the war and its aftermath, as well as essays on the impact of the war on Argentina and Uruguay. Although not for the general reader, this is a valuable work for anyone interested in Latin American history or war and society in the nineteenth century.”—New York Military Affairs Symposium (NYMAS Newsletter)

“Both individually and collectively these contributions present an absorbing portrait of societies at war, looking beyond the political and military maneuvering to examine the social history of a war whose human cost was immense and its influence monumental.”—British Bulletin of Publications

“The editors of the book, Hendrick Kraay and Thomas Whigham, are highly qualified to bring this book into print. Kraay previously published a study on the Brazillian military during the period, and Whigham wrote a book on the origins of the Paraguay War. . . . The essays in this collection provide interesting and useful perspectives on the war in Paraguay and the allied countries. The book offers a readable introduction to the subject of the Paraguayan War.”—Robert H. Jackson History: Reviews of New Books