Laurence Blair

I'm a freelance journalist based in Paraguay. I travel widely across Latin America on assignment, filing front-page stories and filling prime-time slots for the BBC, CNN, The New York Times, the Guardian, The Economist and many others.

I’m the author of PATRIA: Lost Countries of South America, a new history of the continent. Marie Arana called it “a magnificent contribution to the Latin American canon.” It got rave reviews in The Telegraph, The Financial Times, The Spectator, The Irish Times, The TLS, History Today, BBC History Magazine and beyond. I discussed the book on the Rest is History, the world’s leading history podcast, where co-host Dominic Sandbrook called it “absolutely wonderful”.

I’m the founding editor of The Paraguay Post, an award-winning, independent source of news, analysis, and bespoke intelligence on South America’s fastest-growing economy.

I studied history at university, and love chasing stories off the beaten track: whether on foot, in the saddle, in the archive or with a paddle. I was born and raised in Dorset, southwest England.

Get in touch: with tips, feedback, commissions, queries, or just to say hi, you can reach me on laurie.a.blair@gmail.com. I’m also on X @laurieablair, Instagram @printsoflblair, Substack and Linkedin.