Drums for Rancas is at the same time an astounding display of brilliant fantasy which springs up from reality and intertwines itself in that reality like a popular ballad. Tragic, ironic, passionate, pathetic, and lyrical, Drums for Rancas is the extraordinary chronicle of humble people of simple truth and dignity taking arms against outrageous fortune. In the barren highlands they rebel against landlords, government officials, an international corporation and a mythical wire fence which devours their lands. The terse and expressive style of the book contrasts with the cruel events.