In the aftermath of Hugo Chavez's death, the inside story of his life, his Venezuela, and his legacy. Hugo Chavez was a phenomenon. He has been compared to Napoleon, Nasser, Peron, and Castro, but the truth is there has never been a leader like him. He was democratically elected, reigned like a monarch from a digital throne, and provoked adoration and revulsion in equal measure. Future historians will study his rule for what it says about the early twenty-first century. How did a charismatic autocrat seduce not just a nation but a significant part of world opinion? How did he make people laugh... View More...
Coming off the most successful book of a decorated career--Say Her Name--The Interior Circuit is Francisco Goldman's timely and provocative journey into the heart of Mexico City. The Interior Circuit is Goldman's story of his emergence from grief five years after his wife's death, symbolized by his attempt to overcome his fear of driving in the city. Embracing the DF (Mexico City) as his home, Goldman explores and celebrates the city, which stands defiantly apart from so many of the social ills and violence wracking Mexico. This is the chronicle of an awakening, both personal and political, "i... View More...
This monumental work of history removes the Incas from the realm of legend and shows the reality of their struggles against the Spanish invasion. Winner of the 1971 Christopher Award. Index; photographs, maps, and line drawings.
When the famous anthropologist Claude L vi-Strauss arrived in Rio de Janeiro, he had one book in his pocket: Jean de L ry's History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil. L ry had undertaken his fascinating and arduous voyage in 1556, as a youthful member of the first Protestant mission to the New World. Janet Whatley presents the first complete English translation of one of the most vivid early European accounts of life in the New World. View More...
Extended interviews with men, women, and families provide insight into the impact of the Cuban revolution on the island nation's urban slum dwellers, the roles of its women, and home life. View More...
Over time, Brazil has evolved into a well-defined nation with a strong sense of identity. From the natural beauty of the Amazon River to the exciting resort city of Rio de Janeiro, from soccer champion Pele to classical musician Villa Lobos, Brazil is known as a distinctive, diverse country. It is recognized worldwide for its World Cup soccer team, samba music, dancing, and celebrations of Carnival. This book provides a well-rounded, brief history of Brazil that uniquely focuses on both the politics and culture of the republic. Colin MacLachlan uses a political narrative to frame the evolution... View More...
A deeply engaging new history of how European settlements in the post-Colombian Americas shaped the world, from the bestselling author of 1491. Presenting the latest research by biologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians, Mann shows how the post-Columbian network of ecological and economic exchange fostered the rise of Europe, devastated imperial China, convulsed Africa, and for two centuries made Mexico City--where Asia, Europe, and the new frontier of the Americas dynamically interacted--the center of the world. In this history, Mann uncovers the germ of today's fiercest po... View More...
Now available in paperback, Tongues of Fire deals with one of the most extraordinary developments in the world today - the rapid spread of Evangelical Protestantism in vast areas of the underdeveloped societies, notable Latin America. The growth of Evangelical Protestantism since the 1960's from its epicentre in the United States has been a religious and social phenomenon of extraordinary proportions. David Martin, one of the world's leading authorities on the sociology of religion, examines this remarkable phenomenon, taking account of how the religious elements have affected and have been a... View More...
Major reform has occurred within Bolivia, with a democratic and economic resurgence, a more modern electoral system and technological and communications expansion. But old problems continue to haunt the present. This book offers a concise history of Bolivia from ancient times. View More...
Offers a personal look at the people, poverty, beauty, and passion of South America by an expatriate American who left his farm in Ecuador at the age of sixty-three to embark on a journey through Brazil on the Amazon River. View More...
In Rain of Gold, Victor Villasenor weaves the parallel stories of two families and two countries...bringing us the timeless romance between the volatile bootlegger who would become his father and the beautiful Lupe, his mother-men and women in whose lives the real and the fantastical exist side by side...and in whose hearts the spirit to survive is fueled by a family's unconditional love. View More...
"Wolf drew on anthropology, archaeology, history, and geography to mold a magnificent, sweeping, and beautifully written synthesis. With style and deep personal engagement he unraveled the complexity of Mexico and Guatemala's past with its multiple ethnicities, many languages, and environmental diversity. . . . Armies of graduate students have challenged many of the details, but the book stands as a monument to a time when social scientists were able to think large thoughts and write elegant English"-Foreign Affairs, Significant Books of the Last 75 Years. View More...