One of the most fascinating questions in the history of the Atlantic world is why, after Napoleon's defeat in Europe and the restoration of Ferdinand VII to the Spanish throne in 1814, the Spanish monarchy subsequently proved incapable of rebuilding or at least repairing the old regime. There is of course no single answer to this question. Historians of Spain and the Spanish world have long discussed the many obstacles that stood in the way of imperial recovery, notably the legacy of economic and political disruption carried over from Ferdinand's interregnum and the destabilisation of the monarchy caused by political shifts on both sides of the Atlantic. Historians have, moreover, pointed to the flaws in Spanish policy under Ferdinand VII and shown how the king and his ministers encountered enormous difficulties in shaping and implementing an American policy that combined armed repression and political reconciliation. Especially interesting is the question of the ways in which royal authority was restored in Spanish America, given that Spain's future rested on its ability to erase the revolutions of 1810 and to reconstruct its transatlantic ties.

In this book, Daniel Gutiérrez Ardila sets out to clarify our understanding of how the restoration of monarchical rule played out in the Viceroyalty of New Granada. This region (roughly modern Colombia) had some unusual features: the Spanish monarchy had been largely displaced by autonomous states during Ferdinand VII's 1808–14 interregnum and in 1815 New Granada was the target for a large military expedition sent from Spain. This is not the first study of New Granada's ‘reconquest’ by General Morillo's army and the resurrection of its royal government. Researches in Spanish archives by Juan Friede, Rebecca Earle (on New Granada) and Stephen Stoan (on Venezuela) have established a strong framework for understanding the operations of General Morillo's military regime and shown how the retributive violence and abusive behaviour of military officials hindered the restoration of civil government and respect for royal authority. This book is, nonetheless, a fresh and original study. It asks some new questions, offers new research based on Colombian national and regional archives, memoirs and the contemporary press, and makes a persuasive case for refining our interpretation of the character and significance of the restoration in New Granada between 1815 and 1819.

The main part of the book pivots on a critique of the notion of ‘reconquest’ that historians have used to frame the period between the arrival of General Morillo's army in 1815 and Bolívar's victory in 1819. The author points out this term is prejudiced, given that it originated in contemporary patriot propaganda against Spain; he suggests that we adopt a more dispassionate approach, by using the more neutral ‘restoration’, which also allows us to see New Granada's experience in the comparative context of the restorations that took place in other post-Napoleonic monarchies. This does not, in fact, greatly modify the conclusions of the recent historiography, which stresses the harsh character of the military regime and its negative political effects. Indeed, the author not only agrees that New Granada's restoration was distinguished by its violence, but he sees this as consistent with the refusal of the Spanish king, unlike the French, to compromise with the political changes brought about by revolution.

Gutiérrez Ardila does, however, offer a more nuanced picture of the New Granadan experience, and enhances our understanding of the character and impact of the royalist restoration in a number of ways. One is by drawing attention to the fact that the restored royal authorities were not uniformly violent and repressive. First, he points out that in New Granada, in contrast to Venezuela, the revolutionary governments of 1810–15 abstained from bloody repression of royalist enemies and thus attracted less retaliatory violence when royalism was reinstalled. Secondly, he emphasises the moderating influence of Captain-General (later Viceroy) Montalvo, which he links to Montalvo's experience in Cuba and Santa Marta. Although Montalvo was unable to extend his authority throughout New Granada, the viceroy created ‘islands’ of civilian administration which avoided the excesses of arbitrary military justice and helped to restore allegiances to the royalist regime. This study also mines a rich vein of contemporary documentation to build an evocative account of the restoration in the province of Antioquia. This is especially interesting for Colombian historiography because it hinges on the experience of José Manuel Restrepo, who not only played a prominent part in forging an independent state but also, as its most influential early historian, did much to shape the narrative of its creation. By investigating Restrepo's survival and rehabilitation, the author digs beneath the pedestal of the patriotic hero, and shows how the military regime could be softened by cooperation with the authorities, the influence of rich and powerful families and bribery of royalist officials. Indeed, it is particularly interesting to see how wealthy and influential Spanish Americans accused of collusion with the revolutionaries of 1810–15 not only survived the return of the old regime, but also kept their positions because of the authorities’ need for men experienced in local and regional government.

From an account of the reconstruction of the institutions of royal government and the rebuilding of loyalty, the author turns to another theme in his closing chapters. Having argued that the restoration of royal authority was more than simply a tyrannical repression, he challenges the idea that the return of the republic was a ‘liberation’. Here, the argument revolves around a discussion of the origins and character of the concept of the ‘liberator’ in New Granada and, particularly, the development of the ‘cult of Bolívar’ in the space previously occupied by images of the king. This discussion throws new light on why, after 1819, it was possible to turn Bolívar into an icon, while also showing the interactions between Bolívar's elevation and the establishment of a militarised, authoritarian state that merged New Granada and Venezuela.

This book does not set out to offer a complete portrait of the Fernandine restoration in New Granada, but it certainly adds depth to the picture drawn by previous studies. The question of comparison is raised but only partially addressed, by contrasting the restoration of monarchy in New Granada to those which took place in Europe's post-revolutionary states; the reader interested in Spanish America would welcome more comparison with, say, Mexico and Peru, where the return of absolutist monarchy took place in different social and political circumstances. This is, nonetheless, a study replete with new information and ideas, and it produces a persuasive re-interpretation of the politics and experience of Spanish restoration in a strategic region of Spain's empire. With its publication, Gutiérrez Ardila makes a worthy addition to his already very substantial contribution to the new historiography on New Granada's independence. In so doing, he also provides insights into the fall of the Spanish empire that will interest all historians of that great historical shift.