Evita, Myth and Reality

Eva Peron was a member of one of the most controversial governments in the history of Argentina and stood united with one of the last fascist rulers of any nation in the Western hemisphere, her husband, Juan Peron. As a result, Peron had fierce proponents, required for maintaining the power of a dictatorship, and fierce opponents whom Peron repressed. Evita, due to her association with Peron, became a figure associated with love on the one hand and hatred on the other. Consequently, cutting through the ideology, rumor and cultic symbolism requires carefully going through available records and dozens of sources, something the author pursues fairly and consistently.

By and large, the author tears down the popular myths about Evita. They expose her relatively ordinary childhood and the fact that she was an illegitimate child, something she tried to hide. The author also exposes her childish...