Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian revolution

Richard Gott, Verso, 314 pages, paperback, £9.99

Events in Venezuela in recent years have been anything but dull under President Hugo Chávez, and this book is well informed about the major events. A failed military coup in 2002, followed by an employers' lock out, a recall referendum last year and covert US intervention against a democratically elected president are all discussed.

Also highlighted are the welfare reforms, known as Missions, which Chávez has introduced using Venezuela's oil dividend - formerly the preserve only of the rich. The author is an enthusiastic believer in Chávez, making light of the role of the military in his regime and claiming that he is little more than a moderate social democrat opposed to neo-liberalism.

Sadly the book is frustratingly thin on the emerging union movement, the UNT, which now represents the majority of organised workers. Similarly, the co-managed factories are scarcely mentioned.