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The Penguin History of Latin America (Penguin History)
A single-volume history of Latin America. Professor Williamson starts with the pre-Columbian Indian peoples and the slow, often savage process of colonization by which Spaniards and Portuguese came to control territory many times the size of Spain. Indeed, it was not until the age of the Enlightenment, dynastic shifts, imperial reforms and Napoleonic conquests in Europe th...more
Paperback, 631 pages
Published
September 7th 1993
by Penguin
(first published 1992)
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When I first started reading this, I knew very little about Central and South America. This book does a great job of explaining the social, economic, and cultural factors that all intermix to create the tensions and troubles that have plagued this part of the world both before and after the Europeans arrived. I love it because it tells me the "why" of what happened, and not just the "what." All the while, it stays very academic and objective, without glorifying or criticiz...more
Williamson's history of Latin America succeeds far more than one has any right to expect. He has struck the perfect balance between breadth and depth -- a daunting task considering the amount of time, geographical area, governments, and personalities he must describe. All of this could be overwhelming when dealing with only one Latin American country, let alone all of them. Certainly the book should be considered an introduction: read it to get a relatively quick and quite substantial grounding,...more
Survey history of Latin America. Chapters on the 20th century focus on individual countries. The 19th century gets three sweeping overview chapters including one on literature and culture. The first section of the book covers the colonial period with a glance over the pre-colonial landscape.
Such a well-written and easy-to read-book. Gives a thorough one-volume coverage of Latin American history, and it's disturbing that anyone can know so much about so many things! Particularly enjopyed the material on literature.
This is an excellent analysis of the history of Latin America. It took me a LONG time to read, because it's very thorough, but it was worth it. I had a little bit of difficulty understanding the economics, but then again, in college Economics of Latin America was the hardest B+ I have ever worked my butt off for. The edition I have covers through 2009.
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Need a primer on Latin America? This is a great read, beginning around the time of the conquest and ending towards the end of the 20th Century. Getting outdated, but still an excellent read. Read this book while travelling in South America.
certainly a good introductory volume, but it was as dry as the atacama desert. here's to hoping i retain something after a disciplined plow through the book.
Excellent survey of a fascinating topic
Serviceable reference.
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