The History of Latin America: Collision of Cultures

by Marshall C. Eakin

This narrative history of Latin America surveys five centuries in less than five hundred pages.  The first third of the book moves from the Americas before Columbus to the wars for independence in the early nineteenth century.  The construction of new nations and peoples in the nineteenth century forms the middle third, and the final section analyzes economic development, rising political participation, and the search of identity over the last century.  The collision of peoples and cultures--Native Americans, Europeans, Africans--that defines Latin America, and gives it both its unity and diversity, provides the central theme of this concise, synthetic history. 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Latin American History, The Americas, Audiobook, World History

448 pages, Paperback

First published June 12, 2007

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eakin is an ever-interesting guide to almost the whole continent. He's sensitive to how myriads of struggles appeared to all groups involved. His focus is wide, but with certain boundaries. He only glances at Native cultures before contact with Europe, because "Latin America" only appeared with the mixing of worlds and races. He basically omits mention of the Mexican regions seized by the United States, or of areas colonized by non-Iberians such as the Guyanas, Suriname, Belize, and Jamaica, but he covers Haiti. Almost everywhere that Natives, Africans, and Latin White folks mixed together, Eakin tells the tale.

The book gives helpful background on what "Liberal" and "Conservative" have meant in these parts of the world, but the political options advanced by Native communities seem basically overlooked in the Liberal-Conservative crossfire. The long-running tension between managed and unregulated economies gets a general, even-handed account. But the nationalist response to US-backed corporate interests is better explored by Naomi Klein.

For most of the book, Eakin gives theme-based surveys of the whole continent. Then he gives brief, insightful summaries on each nation. I wanted more light on Colombia's disturbing troubles. The book offers more insight on many smaller countries, including the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and even Puerto Rico, than it gives on Colombia.

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Une histoire de l'Amérique latine en 418 pages, la majorité explore assez bien l'époque pré-colonisation et la colonisation par les Espagnols et Portugais jusqu'en 1800-1850 après, l'histoire se diffuse immensément, on passe 2-3 paragraphes sur une centaine d'année par pays et on n'a pas l'impression d'apprendre grand chose de nouveau.

Aussi, plusieurs éléments majeurs que je trouvais à problème:

On mentionne max. 4 femmes (trois comme simple mentionne, et la première présidente d'Amérique latine pendant un paragraphe). Toutefois, p. 407-409 (409 n'a que 8 lignes), on commence enfin à mentioner des écrivaines, mais c'est à la toute toute fin du livre. Bref, moins de 0,5% du livre d'histoire concerne les femmes. On ne parle pas du droit de vote des femmes et on mentionne Diego Rivera dans un paragraphe du livre, mais même pas Frieda Kahlo! D'immenses lacunes à ce niveau.

C'est une histoire qui commence très euro-centrée pour se finir avec une histoire très influencée par la politique américaine dont on trace de longs paragraphes (y compris une partie de l'histoire américaine). Je comprends définitivement la pertinence de parler de l'interventionnisme états-unien, mais j'ai l'impression d'avoir lu beaucoup plus sur les États-Unis que sur Haïti ou le Pérou (pour ne prendre que deux exemples).

Un livre d'histoire intéressant pour en apprendre davantage sur l'histoire de la colonisation, mais pour une histoire après le XIXème siècle, je pense qu'il y a d'importantes lacunes. Je peinais à trouver des histoires individuelles de pays d'Amérique latine donc je me suis procuré celui-là, mais j'en ressors plus frustré· qu'au début de ma lecture. Je pourrais aussi critique l'approche théorique qui célèbre le métissage des peuples sans utiliser beaucoup d'outils d'analyse appropriés pour problématiser et démystifier un peu tout ça (bien qu'on définit bien les oppressions tournants plus autour du colorisme que du concept de "race" comme en Amérique du Nord ainsi que l'exploitation, le pillage et les terres agricoles des nations plus pauvres et opprimées qui sont envahis systématiquement au nom du progrès et inféode continuellement ces populations).

[Jork · Rating 2 out of 5]

If “After 500 years, the control of land (and labor) are no longer central to social and economic development,” is your conclusion to the brutal history of the exploitation of Latin America, not only are you wrong, you support the brutal repression of all opposed to neoliberal policies.

For Eakin, extreme violence by right-wing dictators and juntas is excusable because, after torture and murder have been exhausted, reform usually follows. Violence is bad, Eakin argues, but at least genocidal, illegal governments promote stable economies, even when they badly botch every aspect of recovery.

Absolutely disgusting conclusions drawn for what is essentially a shell game played by US foreign policy, World Bank and IMF to implement inhuman austerity for the collection of prohibitive debts incurred by idiots and monsters to enrich themselves and leave the countries bankrupted by powerful people, states, and institutions to be predated by the same.

To hell with this book.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched if depressingly Eurocentric account of Latin American history. A more thorough and balanced work would have spent more time exploring the interactions between the indigenous, European, and African peoples that Eakin claimed to be the foundational forces behind the shaping of Latin America. Instead we get chapters focusing solely on Europe and European conquerors with little detail on other perspectives and experiences of the development of Latin America. What's present is detailed and insightful, but a huge part of the shaping of Latin American is missing due to Eakin's focus on the European side of the story.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good summary/survey at best of the history of Latin America. Earkin organizes his work chronogolically and by theme, but within each topic the work is poorly organized (chaotic) and is sorely lacking in the number of details. For anyone searching for a general summary or a basic understanding of how Latin (and South) America came to be in their current situations of the twenty-first century, then Earkin's work is worth reading. For anyone searching for a deeper understanding look elsewhere.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly easy read, but it took me a long time just because Eakin's style was so repetitive. By the end of the book, I had already read just about everything multiple times since almost every major theme recurs in nearly every chapter. That being said, this was still a helpful overview of a long period of history in a region that is larger than a continent.

[Robert Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very impressive. It's possible to see the book as a bit dry, but that's only if you lose track of what Eakin has managed to accomplish here. He's written a history of Latin America, that covers 500 years and 20 or so countries, and does so in just a little over 400 pages. Eakins is hyper-conscious of the difficulty of that task, and often reminds the reader that this is just a survey, with no pretensions to comprehensiveness. He's right, but he does a brilliant job of introducing the contours of Latin American history. His emphasis is, as the subtitle indicates, on the "collision of cultures", and the ramifying complexity of the history he is relating.

In the 1500s the author can describe individual instances of conflict and catastrophe at some length. These individual stories of abuse and lost explorers are where "Latin America" began. By the end of the book, Eakin has to reduce the histories of 20-odd increasingly diverse countries to quick capsule histories and try to pack things in to larger historical trends and dynamics. He's an equally deft hand at both tasks and both eras. One of the things I admire most about the book is that he manages to both be very upfront about how debatable everything is, even the concept of "Latin America" while also telling a story that added a lot to my understanding.

I've read a few histories of individual Latin American countries over the years, and they fit well with the broader history that Eakin lays out here. He mentions a few times that it may not be possible to tell a unified story of Latin America after 600 years the way he has tried after 500. The countries are changing too much. They all started from very similar roots, the context of colonization by Portugal or Spain, but their experiences have varied in ways small and large ever since. The way Eakin tells it, the identities of population flows and the size of the economies in question are probably the biggest factors. Smaller countries with fewer free migrants tend to do worse. Within the general, well-elucidated flow of events that effected all of the countries, from the efforts of enlightened despots to the oil crisis, Eakin also manages to break the countries into broader categories that help to explain how and why the individual countries reacted to these events in the ways that they did. This is all done with great humility and care. This book is a great place to start learning about Latin America.

[Jeremiah Batson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author shows a lot of dedication and affection for the topic. This provides a solid overview of all major Carribean nations (including Puerto Rico), Spanish America, and Brazil. The details on Brazil are on the lighter side, but this is probably due to the fact that Eakin has also written a separate work fully committed to the one nation. This book is roughly one third the Colonial Era, one third the Age of Revolution, and one third twentieth century developments, with introductory and connecting material in between. The book flows well and feels detailed enough for a solid introduction to the region, but there is a lot of unnecessary recapitulation that became tedious for me in the last hundred pages. This is probably to make it more usable as an academic resource. Overall, very happy with the read. This work helped me put the more narrow literary and historical Spanish works I've read into the wider context of history (Such as the Cuban Revolution, Simón Bolivar, and the Perónes in Argentina). I definitely recommend it to anyone who is studying Spanish or Portugues for historical context, or desires to understand broadly any of the topics mentioned above.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An overview of Latin American history (Central and South American and the Caribbean) from first contact with Spain and Portugal to the beginning of the 21st century. The book focuses on long term political and cultural trends including the impact of reform and revolution and the development of Latin American identities over the centuries. There are some good comparative chapters about political upheaval in various countries. The book came out in 2007 so it's a little dated now but it remains a useful reference for key events in the region.

[Nanette Fandino-Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an easy to read book for an intro Latin American history course. The author explores different aspects of the culture of Latin America with a focus on identity. The author also includes references to art, literature, and other aspects of culture that would appeal to individuals with different interests. I would recommend this book for a high school social studies course or a 100 level college history course.

[Alexios Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eakin did a good job summarizing the key themes and the parallels between countries, and some of the reflections on racial and ethnic relations were very interesting. However, the book lacked a bit of spark or imagination in terms of navigating the key sweeping themes, and sometimes felt a little short on fact- and statistically-driven insight.

[Brendan Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the authors apparent far-light leaning ideology can at times be a bit frustrating, this book is a great resource for those looking to learn more about the history of Latin America. The author does a great job highlighting a tremendous amount of history in a little over 400 pages.

[Valeriano Diviacchi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of repetitive analysis.

[Lauren Gurnee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive history of Latin America! How the countries formed and learning what contributed to the reputation of these places and people was really interesting.

[Mason]

An easily readable compendium on the political, economic and cultural development of Latin America. Focuses on the collision of European, Native American and African influences in the formation of an increasingly divergent region of the world.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, comprehensive and comprehensible history of Latin America. Very entertaining.

[Anil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Panoramic and probing, insightful and readable. Intellectually sound and politically honest. (And the binding is unbreakable!)