The Shining Path: Terror and Revolution in Peru

I was in Peru for the better part of 1993 soon after Chairman Gonzalo was captured by the sure hand of Alberto Fujimori. On my 1st visit, I saw the blown up buildings long before Oklahoma City and 9/11. After my 1st trip in '93, I picked up this book, was mezmerized, and upon my return to Peru, terrified by the Sendero. This book is so vivid I dreamt fitfully about the revolution as if I was caught in the crossfire. The Gonzalo thought is as fanatical as the modern day Islamists, and these people were practicing indiscriminate terror and bombings before the Islamists. In a world of extreme terrorists, this book introduces you to a group bent on the apocolypse, and if not contained by the brave and fearless Fujimori, would have had dire consequences for the Western Hemisphere and beyond.

Don't be fooled by the sensationalist title, this is no right wing polemic about the horrors of communism. This is a balanced and essentially apolitical examination of the Shining Path revolutionary movement. It shows how corrupt and violent Peruvian society was (is?) at every level. It's a short book and an easy read, but extremely valuable in terms of gaining an understanding of the historical and socio-economic conditions that made a revolutionary force like the Shining Path not only possible, but inevitable. The author has no discernable political bias other than an obvious sympathy for the Amerindian peasants who were the victims of ALL the power brokers: the government, the rebels, the Catholic Church, Protestant missionaries, the cocaine trafficers and the DEA. Strong makes no apologies for the Shining Path and clearly shows how ruthless and coercive they were, but it also provides insight as to how and why the rebels gained such a wide level of popular support. What I found most interesting was how closely Maoist doctrine mirrored the indigenous culture and how the rebels co-opted the peasant mythology in order to advocate for their revolution.Ultimately disturbing - there are no heroes here - this is a book that fosters understanding, although it offers no solutions.