It's sitting right next to me on my desk, I still plan to scan it in but having never digitized anything before, I've been putting it off while I try and figure out an "easy" way to do it. Basically I've found there is no easy way and I'm going to have to make time to do it and it'll take a couple of days.
If you want to pass the raw scans to me I can do the OCR end of things and turn it into an ebook. I do that kind of thing for work anyhow so it'd be pretty easy.
Honestly, that would be fantastic. What format would be best for the scans? I was told good quality phone pictures would work, but since you’ve got experience with it just let me know what you think is best-
Well, the first seller (on thriftbooks, I think?) claimed he had no way to ship it to her, so that transaction was cancelled. I was not surprised.
But then what looked to be the same seller put the book on Ebay, so she purchased it again- only to hear from the seller that he couldn't ship it to her, for some reason? He hemmed and hawed for a while, then did eventually figure out that he could ship it as a "gift". We received it yesterday!
This second volume covers the period the Military Government was in power, from the day of September 11th (hmmm) 1973 through the handoff to the Constitutional Government in 1981.
The first 300 pages are written journal-style by Pinochet, a comprehensive accounting of all the meetings and events that he found notable. That's followed with an 100-page index detailing the various attacks and sabotage undertaken by MIR (the Leftist Revolutionary Movement) and other various Socialist and Communist groups over the same time period.
I'll try to get started on scanning this week, looks like it will be a lengthy process!
Great! I also found volume 2 (in spanish) from on abebooks, it's shipping from Chile but should arrive in a month or two. I found the english version of vol 1 at University of Texas and I'm trying to coordinate a pickup to digitize it.
I'm really interested in Volume 1. I want to see what went into the decision for the military to take over, and how Pinochet and his compatriots realized that they had to do what they did.
Even though volume 2 starts with the new government taking the reins of power while the fighting is still ongoing, it is more about rebuilding and stabilization in the aftermath. Interesting, but ultimately more about the workings of bureaucracy than revolution.
Good news from my side. I found a Chilean bookstore on abebooks selling tome 1 and 2, as well as tome 3 volume 2. I was able to order a copy of each (and an extra copy of tome 2) and they'll let me know if they get tome 3 volume 1 or tome 4 in stock. Should arrive by late July/early August. Cost about $100 a piece so far but let's hope it's worth.
> I want to see what went into the decision for the military to take over, and how Pinochet and his compatriots realized that they had to do what they did.
Me too. I've heard he was invited to do so by parliament when Allende was going to suspend the constitution, but I've never been clear.
I loathe Pinochet but that’s actually a good reason to read his account. It would be useful for anyone interested in history, even - or maybe especially - his enemies. Chile was an extremely interesting place during this period. Pinochet is a poster boy for the notion - following US practice in Vietnam and Cambodia - that you can murder an idea by murdering the people who carry it. I doubt he admits that, but his justifications might be interesting. He did have half the Chilean people behind him, because the Allende period was very chaotic. Most of the middle classes as well as the upper classes did not want to see the country turn into Cuba. While I completely and utterly disagree with Pinochet’s methods, the story that the Allende period was some kind of socialist paradise is grossly incorrect. As always, the real story is far more subtle than ideologues on any side want to believe. That’s why we must be able to examine all sources, and look at all points of view. (As an aside, I have trouble believing this work isn’t widely available in Spanish. Correct me if I’m wrong.)
I read that only 3000 people were killed out of a nation of 10 million...
That strikes me as inherently a legitimate amount to kill in a civil war (by contrast Israel has killed 20-30k out of 2 million in just the first 3 months in Gaza). Like you wouldn't even get past the most immediate regime functionaries of the communist government.
If you told me as a Canadian that my replacement regime gets to kill 3000 people to secure its reign... we wouldn't even get out of the Sunshine list of government employees making over 100k per year. Not innocents merely expressing their ideas.
Mind you I'm a libertarian and I see a rich government employee as INHERENTLY a traitor and enemy of the people... But at such a limited scale if they disappeared someone who didn't do anything, or wasn't directly involved in the Allende regime, that was a major waste of resources.
Why? The people he killed weren't killed for carrying an idea, they were killed for being murderers. During Allende's regime there were murder gangs roaming the countryside purging the kulaks just as in any other commie dictatorship. They had to be cleaned up, period. No civilised country can allow that kind of behaviour to go unpunished.
Not just bad guys got killed under Pinochet. And you’re rooting for murder gang yourself - a government murder gang operated by unaccountable secret police. i’m no apologist for chilean socialism, but the desire to kill all your opponents is hardly civilized.
Amazing what one can learn from these autobiographies. I have Ian Smith's book, which is illuminating. Still available but it costs an arm and a leg, no doubt because it wasn't much of a blockbuster.
I didn’t realise how much I want these books until I realised how much “they” don’t want us to have them. Now I really really want them.
My girlfriend just found volume 2 in paperback for sale online, from a seller in France. She bought it 😏
We’ll see if we actually get it!
Incredible!
Please say you will scan it
Sure will!
Is it in French? Or English?
It is in English.
It's sitting right next to me on my desk, I still plan to scan it in but having never digitized anything before, I've been putting it off while I try and figure out an "easy" way to do it. Basically I've found there is no easy way and I'm going to have to make time to do it and it'll take a couple of days.
If you want to pass the raw scans to me I can do the OCR end of things and turn it into an ebook. I do that kind of thing for work anyhow so it'd be pretty easy.
Honestly, that would be fantastic. What format would be best for the scans? I was told good quality phone pictures would work, but since you’ve got experience with it just let me know what you think is best-
Well, the first seller (on thriftbooks, I think?) claimed he had no way to ship it to her, so that transaction was cancelled. I was not surprised.
But then what looked to be the same seller put the book on Ebay, so she purchased it again- only to hear from the seller that he couldn't ship it to her, for some reason? He hemmed and hawed for a while, then did eventually figure out that he could ship it as a "gift". We received it yesterday!
did you scan?
I haven't yet- it's still on my to-do list.
This second volume covers the period the Military Government was in power, from the day of September 11th (hmmm) 1973 through the handoff to the Constitutional Government in 1981.
The first 300 pages are written journal-style by Pinochet, a comprehensive accounting of all the meetings and events that he found notable. That's followed with an 100-page index detailing the various attacks and sabotage undertaken by MIR (the Leftist Revolutionary Movement) and other various Socialist and Communist groups over the same time period.
I'll try to get started on scanning this week, looks like it will be a lengthy process!
Great! I also found volume 2 (in spanish) from on abebooks, it's shipping from Chile but should arrive in a month or two. I found the english version of vol 1 at University of Texas and I'm trying to coordinate a pickup to digitize it.
I'm really interested in Volume 1. I want to see what went into the decision for the military to take over, and how Pinochet and his compatriots realized that they had to do what they did.
Even though volume 2 starts with the new government taking the reins of power while the fighting is still ongoing, it is more about rebuilding and stabilization in the aftermath. Interesting, but ultimately more about the workings of bureaucracy than revolution.
Good news from my side. I found a Chilean bookstore on abebooks selling tome 1 and 2, as well as tome 3 volume 2. I was able to order a copy of each (and an extra copy of tome 2) and they'll let me know if they get tome 3 volume 1 or tome 4 in stock. Should arrive by late July/early August. Cost about $100 a piece so far but let's hope it's worth.
> I want to see what went into the decision for the military to take over, and how Pinochet and his compatriots realized that they had to do what they did.
Me too. I've heard he was invited to do so by parliament when Allende was going to suspend the constitution, but I've never been clear.
fantastic!
I loathe Pinochet but that’s actually a good reason to read his account. It would be useful for anyone interested in history, even - or maybe especially - his enemies. Chile was an extremely interesting place during this period. Pinochet is a poster boy for the notion - following US practice in Vietnam and Cambodia - that you can murder an idea by murdering the people who carry it. I doubt he admits that, but his justifications might be interesting. He did have half the Chilean people behind him, because the Allende period was very chaotic. Most of the middle classes as well as the upper classes did not want to see the country turn into Cuba. While I completely and utterly disagree with Pinochet’s methods, the story that the Allende period was some kind of socialist paradise is grossly incorrect. As always, the real story is far more subtle than ideologues on any side want to believe. That’s why we must be able to examine all sources, and look at all points of view. (As an aside, I have trouble believing this work isn’t widely available in Spanish. Correct me if I’m wrong.)
I read that only 3000 people were killed out of a nation of 10 million...
That strikes me as inherently a legitimate amount to kill in a civil war (by contrast Israel has killed 20-30k out of 2 million in just the first 3 months in Gaza). Like you wouldn't even get past the most immediate regime functionaries of the communist government.
If you told me as a Canadian that my replacement regime gets to kill 3000 people to secure its reign... we wouldn't even get out of the Sunshine list of government employees making over 100k per year. Not innocents merely expressing their ideas.
Mind you I'm a libertarian and I see a rich government employee as INHERENTLY a traitor and enemy of the people... But at such a limited scale if they disappeared someone who didn't do anything, or wasn't directly involved in the Allende regime, that was a major waste of resources.
> I loathe Pinochet
Why? The people he killed weren't killed for carrying an idea, they were killed for being murderers. During Allende's regime there were murder gangs roaming the countryside purging the kulaks just as in any other commie dictatorship. They had to be cleaned up, period. No civilised country can allow that kind of behaviour to go unpunished.
Not just bad guys got killed under Pinochet. And you’re rooting for murder gang yourself - a government murder gang operated by unaccountable secret police. i’m no apologist for chilean socialism, but the desire to kill all your opponents is hardly civilized.
Well... the guys telling me he was a demon aren't exactly reliable narrators and are far more murderous so I'm not inclined to believe them.
Amazing what one can learn from these autobiographies. I have Ian Smith's book, which is illuminating. Still available but it costs an arm and a leg, no doubt because it wasn't much of a blockbuster.
Streisand Effect.
i am genuinely curious if anyone finds a copy
Someone should buy a copy and send it to Bob Dylan. Maybe his next album will feature the joy of dropping people out of helicopters.
There are a number in the US: https://search.worldcat.org/title/25218223
Notably, Pitt has volume 2 for check out:
https://pitt.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01PITT_INST/1sjtb5p/alma9913979163406236
Hathitrust has also digitized, but it is locked down but searchable. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=txu.059172119032797
https://biblioteca.ufm.edu/opac/record/37670
https://www.bookbase.com/search?dealer_login=chapterone&bookId=cdpy&method=POST
Kulak, you seem to have made a daily reader of Jim. He's over there talking about this book and getting his commenters on the hunt for it.
Can you link me this?
I hold Jim in high esteem, yet can't find it
Edit: Just found it
Did you find it?