Argentina's Missing Bones is the first comprehensive English-language work of historical scholarship on the 1976-83 military dictatorship and Argentina's notorious experience with state terrorism during the so-called Dirty War. It examines this history in a single but crucial place: Crdoba, Argentina's second largest city. Prior to the dictatorship a site of thunderous working-class and student protest, it later became a place where the state terrorism was particularly cruel. Considering the legacy of this violent period, James P. Brennan examines the role of the state in constructing a public memory of the violence and in holding those responsible accountable through the most extensive trials for crimes against humanity to take place anywhere in Latin America.

James P. Brennan is Professor of History at the University of California, Riverside, where he teaches modern Latin American history.

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1
1. Threats: Apostles of the New Order 8
2. Dictatorship: Terrorizing Córdoba 19
3. Death Camp: La Perla 36
4. Institutional Dynamics: The Third Army Corps 51
5. Transnational Dynamics: The Cold War and the War against Subversion 62
6. Five Trials: Public Reckonings of a Violent Past 77
7. Remembering: Memories of Violence and Terror 89
8. Assigning Blame: Who Was Responsible for the Dirty War? 105
Epilogue 116

Appendix 1 119
Appendix 2 123
Appendix 3 149
Notes 155
Selected Bibliography 181