FROM THE ATACAMA TO THE ANDES: Battles of the War of the Pacific 1879-1883

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After the break-up of the Spanish empire, ill-defined boundaries separated the nine independent states. One was the Atacama Desert between Bolivia and Chile, one of the driest regions in the world that contained nitrates that the world needed for explosives and fertilizer. War broke out in February 1879. Includes 35 b/w photographs, 8 color plates, and 15 color maps.

Both sides found themselves unprepared for war, but rapid armament followed as the Peruvians were dragged into the conflict in support of their Bolivian allies. Initially there was a tiresome naval war of blockade. Two naval actions decided the naval campaign in favor of the Chileans who then proceeded to use their naval power to attack the Allies' isolated armies and capture Lima two years after war had broken out. The war was notable in the West for fights involving ironclads, particularly the Battle of Angamos.

The land war was more or less ignored abroad, although it included some of the biggest battles ever fought on the continent, using all the latest technology, including breech loading rifles and cannons and machine guns. Fighting then developed into a cruel and ruthless guerrilla war in the Andes, sometimes even pitting Peruvian against Peruvian.