William Henry Koebel

William Henry Koebel (1872 – 1923) was an English author and businessman. He is best remembered today for his books on trade and travel within the Caribbean, Central America and South America.^[1] He also wrote several books on countries in and around the Iberian Peninsular such as Portugal and Madeira.^[2] His books continue to be studied today by academics.^[3]

Life

Koebel was born in Kent, England. He extensively travelled around the Caribbean, Central and South America. He worked to expand British trade in the regions, most successfully in Chile and especially the port of Valparaiso which was a major British trading port before the construction of the Panama Canal.^[4] His most successful and influential book is the South American Handbook which he first published in 1921 and continues to be edited and reprinted as recently as 2014.^[5]

Works

• Madeira: old and new (1909)^[6]
• South American Handbook (1921) ISBN 9781907263774
• British Exploits in South America: A History of British Activities in Exploration, Military Adventure, Diplomacy, Science, and Trade, in Latin America (1917)
• Argentina, Past & Present (1922)
• Uruguay... (1923)
• South America (1923)
• Modern Argentina, the El Dorado of To-Day, with Notes on Uruguay and Chile (1923)
• Portugal, Its Land and People (1923)
• South America: An Industrial and Commercial Field (1923)
• In Jesuit Land, the Jesuit Missions of Paraguay (1923)
• Modern Chile; With Illustrations and Map (1923)
• The Great South Land; the River Plate and Southern Brazil of To-day (1923)^[7]

References

1. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry
2. WorldCat Author listing
3. Google Scholar
4. The original South American handbook
5. BBC News article on the book 'South American Handbook'
6. Madeira: old and new, Internet Archive
7. W. H. Koebel

External links

• Works by William Henry Koebel at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about William Henry Koebel at Internet Archive