THE BOOK RECORDS URUGUAY'S PIONEER WORK IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, MASS EDUCATION, LABOR REFORM, AND ECONOMIC NATIONALISM IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY; THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL PARTIES; THE EMERGENCE OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS LEADING TO AN ECONOMIC CRISIS AND GOVERNMENT LOSS OF SUPPORT FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II; AND THE RISE OF THE TUPAMAROS OR NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT, AN URBAN GUERRILLA MOVEMENT THAT EMERGED DURING THE 1960'S. PART I INCLUDES INTERVIEWS RECORDED DURING 1965-1970 WITH SIX OLD-AGE PENSIONERS, A DELINQUENT, A FORMER PRISONER, STAFF MEMBERS OF A MENTAL HOSPITAL, AND SOME URUGUAYANS WHO HAD LEFT THE COUNTRY. PART II PRESENTS INTERVIEWS HELD BETWEEN DECEMBER 1968 AND APRIL 1970 WITH SCHOOLCHILDREN AND MEAT INDUSTRY STRIKERS ABOUT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS; BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH NINE MEMBERS OF THE JESUIT ORDER IN URUGUAY. THE FINAL SECTION DESCRIBES THE TUPAMARO SEIZURE OF THE BANK AND POLICE STATION AT PANDO AND THE SUBSEQUENT KILLING AND ARREST OF TUPAMAROS BY THE POLICE. INTERVIEWS WITH TWO TUPAMARO MEMBERS, AND WITH IMPRISONED TUPAMAROS WHO WERE TORTURED ARE INCLUDED, ALONG WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE ESCAPE OF 111 TUPAMAROS FROM PUNTA CARRETAS PRISON AND THE SUBSEQUENT SEPTEMBER 1971 RELEASE OF BRITISH AMBASSADOR GEOFFREY JACKSON. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT DETERIORATING ECONOMIC AND REPRESSIVE GOVERNMENTAL CONDITIONS CAN GIVE RISE TO URBAN GUERRILLA GROUPS SUCH AS TUPAMAROS, WHO FEEL REFORM BY DEMOCRATIC MEANS IS NOT FEASIBLE. (GOP)