The Disappeared and the Mothers of the Plaza: The Story of the 11,000 Argentinians Who Vanished

The military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 until the restoration of democracy in 1983 preferred not to jail "subversives" but to exterminate them, maintain the authors. Hence the infamous "disappearances," a subterfuge in which Gen. Jorge Videla's security forces seized, tortured and apparently murdered thousands. Simpson and Bennett covered the regime's end and the commencement of Raul Alfonsin's presidency for BBC television. They offer here a comprehensive, well-written account of the "Dirty War," its many innocent victims and the repressive effort to impose a regime of which violence was a part. Along with accounts of "disappeared" people of all classes, the authors show how relatives (the protesting "mothers" of Buenos Aires), journalists and others helped to expose the reign of terror.