This book has a couple of good lessons for general readers in history. The first is that South American states gained independence due to the weakness of the Spanish monarchy, but it happened both at an inopportune time and in an inauspicious manner. The second is that rule by the people was a surprisingly strong ideal in the independence movement. Democratic government has deep roots in these countries.

Unfortunately, the author has a tendency to dive a bit too deep into details without backing it up with general explanation. He narrates the political events that occurred between 1808 and 1820 country by country. In most of them, these events included civil war. This makes the story quite complex, and it becomes hard to keep track of the quarreling parties and what exactly their quarrels were in each case. I skipped some parts of the book just because I couldn't keep track of all the persons that the author introduced into the narrative.

It would have been good if the author had first presented some kind of a general framework for the various political positions that existed in America at this time and then referred back to that framework when discussing the events that occurred in various countries. The last chapter does provide a nice general summary of the events leading to independence and their historical significance, but it's far too short. It's too bad that the author did not switch to this gear of explanation earlier.