A little too polemical and repetitive at times, but this is a compelling alternative history of Latin America, as well as an absorbing and often damning analysis of Anglo-American capitalist imperalism (reminding the reader that a lot of Britain's wealth did not come from its actual Empire). I wish the copy which Chavez gave to Obama last year had been in English; Obama's opinion of this book would have been fascinating, especially as it argues that the US's capitalism is a direct replacement for Britain's imperialism, which Obama seems to be suspect about. The book is also particularly interesting on why the US developed from a British colony into an independent economic powerhouse, while the Latin American colonies remain trapped in poverty and a kind of feudalism.