''El último virrey'' (in Spanish, ''The last viceroy'') is an Argentine historical novel written by Horacio Salduna, telling the life of

Santiago de Liniers Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, KOM, OM (July 25, 1753 – August 26, 1810) was a French officer in the Spanish military service, and a viceroy of the Spanish colonies of the Viceroyalty of the River ...

from the start of the

British invasions of the Río de la Plata The British invasions of the River Plate were two unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of areas in the Spanish colony of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata that were located around the Río de la Plata in South America – in ...

up to his death leading a

counter-revolution A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...

against the

May Revolution The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...

. The book is closely based on the real historical events, avoiding to make substantial changes. However, the quotations provided are both real quotations and quotations made up by the author's initiative, based on the personality of the men described and the events detailed. The story details, as well as the historical background, the relations of Liniers with his family and friends, and his enemy

Martín de Álzaga Martín de Álzaga (11 November 1755 – 6 July 1812) was a Spanish merchant and politician during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata. Hero of the Reconquest He arrived in Buenos Aires at 11 years of age, poor and speaking only ...

. The name of the book is inaccurate, as Liniers was not the last viceroy of the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ( es, Virreinato del Río de la Plata or es, Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called " Viceroyalty of the River Plate" in some scholarly writings, i ...

: he was replaced by Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, and after the removal of Cisneros during the May Revolution, Javier De Elío proclaimed himself viceroy. The reason of the title, suggested in the plot, is that Liniers was the last viceroy designated by a King of Spain, whereas Cisneros and De Elío were designated by the

Junta of Seville The Supreme Central and Governing Junta of Spain and the Indies (also known as Supreme Central Junta, the Supreme Council, and Junta of Seville; es, Junta Suprema Central y Gubernativa de España e Indias) formally was the Spanish organ (junta) t ...

. This reflects the principle of the Retroversion of the sovereignty of the people of the time, that stated that only a rightful king had the power to designate viceroys, and as such Cisneros and De Elío may lack such legitimacy.

See also