'Samuel Amaral is outstanding … he homes in unerringly on the essentials, treating the estancia as an exercise in economic organisation. He gives meticulous accounts and precise measurements of the internal structure, operations and economic aims of estancias, and places then firmly in their political and economic context. He argues that their expansion was due not only to well-known external factors - the growing demand for hides, for example - but also to human analysis and willpower. In one of the most striking and original chapters, finely documented, he shows that management and entrepreneurship, including skills in pricing land, cattle, labour and supplies, were vital in securing good returns from investments. Under Samuel Amaral's guidance we can follow the signposts in the pampas, from peons to profits.' The Times Literary Supplement

• Preface; 1. Introduction; Part I. Estancia: 2. The organization of production; 3. Capital structure, 1820–50; 4. Model and reality; Part II. Conditions of Production: 5. Reproduction and density; 6. Environment; 7. Institutions; Part III. Human Action: 8. Labour; 9. Management and entrepreneurship; Part IV. Results: 10. Profit; 11. Prices and marketing; 12. Markets; 13. Conclusion; Appendices: A. Profit rate; B. Probate inventories; C. Prices, exchange rates, and trade statistics.

'Samuel Amaral is outstanding … he homes in unerringly on the essentials, treating the estancia as an exercise in economic organisation. He gives meticulous accounts and precise measurements of the internal structure, operations and economic aims of estancias, and places then firmly in their political and economic context. He argues that their expansion was due not only to well-known external factors - the growing demand for hides, for example - but also to human analysis and willpower. In one of the most striking and original chapters, finely documented, he shows that management and entrepreneurship, including skills in pricing land, cattle, labour and supplies, were vital in securing good returns from investments. Under Samuel Amaral's guidance we can follow the signposts in the pampas, from peons to profits.' The Times Literary Supplement

• Preface; 1. Introduction; Part I. Estancia: 2. The organization of production; 3. Capital structure, 1820–50; 4. Model and reality; Part II. Conditions of Production: 5. Reproduction and density; 6. Environment; 7. Institutions; Part III. Human Action: 8. Labour; 9. Management and entrepreneurship; Part IV. Results: 10. Profit; 11. Prices and marketing; 12. Markets; 13. Conclusion; Appendices: A. Profit rate; B. Probate inventories; C. Prices, exchange rates, and trade statistics.

'Samuel Amaral is outstanding … he homes in unerringly on the essentials, treating the estancia as an exercise in economic organisation. He gives meticulous accounts and precise measurements of the internal structure, operations and economic aims of estancias, and places then firmly in their political and economic context. He argues that their expansion was due not only to well-known external factors - the growing demand for hides, for example - but also to human analysis and willpower. In one of the most striking and original chapters, finely documented, he shows that management and entrepreneurship, including skills in pricing land, cattle, labour and supplies, were vital in securing good returns from investments. Under Samuel Amaral's guidance we can follow the signposts in the pampas, from peons to profits.' The Times Literary Supplement

• Preface; 1. Introduction; Part I. Estancia: 2. The organization of production; 3. Capital structure, 1820–50; 4. Model and reality; Part II. Conditions of Production: 5. Reproduction and density; 6. Environment; 7. Institutions; Part III. Human Action: 8. Labour; 9. Management and entrepreneurship; Part IV. Results: 10. Profit; 11. Prices and marketing; 12. Markets; 13. Conclusion; Appendices: A. Profit rate; B. Probate inventories; C. Prices, exchange rates, and trade statistics.