Memory of Fire, Vols. II and III by Eduardo Galeano

The Unseen Book Club

Memory of Fire, a trilogy written by Eduardo Galeano between 1981-86 while in exile from his native Uruguay, traces the history of the Americas from the earliest periods of European contact through conquest, colonization, independence, revolutions, imperialism and globalization. Composed of short, fictionalized vignettes depicting historical figures at iconic moments, scenes of daily life, class conflict and encounters with the natural world, Memory of Fire recasts history as a collective, human process unfolding in cyclical, mythic time. While it emphasizes the agency and experiences of women, indigenous, the enslaved and the exploited, it is unflinching in its depiction of the brutal and compromised humanity of the powerful.
We’re joined again by Andres Black to discuss volume II, Faces and Masks, and III, Century of the Wind.
The accumulation of power and royal decadence // the double-edged blade of science // From liberal to class revolution // the dawn of U.S. imperialism // the United States is not a country // The Guatemalan coup and the moral flattening of the world // the complicity of the media // modernity, magic, villainy, nuance // history is not over
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Interstitial music by La Guacharaca: https://jzaratech.wixsite.com/elvalledelbrujo/la-musica
Theme music by ex-official: https://exofficialexo.bandcamp.com/
Art by Eli Liebman: https://elimack.weebly.com/