The worlds of Chile and Argentina appear to be eternally separated, even in history. Although the countries have one of the longest land borders in the world, rarely do historical works address both countries at the same time. This book is one of these exceptions, and a superb one at that. The author examines the process of nation-state formation in both countries (admittedly, more for the Argentine side) in the second half of the nineteenth century through the idea of a trans-Andean railroad and, rather than the formation of borders, the idea of human mobility across the Andes, from the Central Valley of Chile to the province of Mendoza in Argentina. By doing so, Harvey shows us new ways of thinking about national boundaries but also the nature of capitalism in South America, labor, banditry, political refugees, and many other topics. In addition to filling in a complex period in Argentine history, when the country coalesced into a nation-state, the book invites us to think differently about what borders mean and how human beings were affected by the consolidation of the nation-state through infrastructure development.

The central thread of the work is the construction of the trans-Andean railroad, which stretched from Buenos Aires to Valparaíso; it was a dream of many and particularly of the Chilean-born Clark brothers. The railroad did not get built until 1910, the end of the book. The author organizes the book in a novel way. Interspersed throughout the book’s five chapters (which deal with the topics of migration, labor, the infrastructure of mobility, support for rebellions in Argentina, and criminality, respectively) are “interludes” that examine the actors of the trans-Andean railroad and its infrastructure.

Each chapter provides a wealth of data and analysis of a world rarely discussed. In the first chapter, the Chilean laborers who worked the Mendoza cattle ranches and vineyards and women textile workers receive attention. In the second chapter, the author concentrates on how the use of Chilean consulate claims to Chilean citizenship shielded peons from recruitment in Argentina for the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–70). Chapter 3 deals with the infrastructure of mobility prior to the railroad, what the author calls “mobility technological systems.” These include animals, such as mules and donkeys, the pasturage in a desert/oasis complex where water was scarce, and the posthouses that, according to the author, were a kind of technology that made rapid transport between locations feasible. In Chapter 4, the author turns to rebellions that beset western Argentina in the 1860s and how the border made the financing of federalist revolts possible and provided refuge for the losers. In turn, Chapter 5 shows how, by the 1870s, the Argentine government attempted to turn (mostly successfully) political revolts into criminal activity, worthy of repression on both sides of the border.

Although Harvey aims toward theorizing of his findings, tying world capitalism and nation-state formation to the processes he analyzes, I find that much of the greatest value lies in the book’s “small” insights, such as the vital importance of women’s weaving to men’s mobility across the mountain range. There are many more examples, such as the sophisticated analysis of court cases, the use of leather in the mining industry, the role of merchants in the rebellions, and the way in which western Argentina vacillated between the pull of the Pacific economy in Chile, on the one hand, and the Atlantic-facing nation-state formation process, on the other. The indigenous population, just to the south of the region under discussion, does not escape Harvey’s analysis either, though I would have liked to have seen more discussion of the southern, ethnic frontier.

All in all, this is an excellent work, refreshing in its details and novel in its perspectives. Harvey’s book gives the border between Chile and Argentina its rightful place as a space where connections mattered more than the artificial lines drawn on the tops of mountains in the offices of their respective capitals.