Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations

by James A. Wood (Editor), John Charles Chasteen (Editor)

A fourth edition of this book is now available.

Now in its third edition, this leading reader has been updated to make it even more relevant to the study of contemporary Latin America. This edition includes an entirely new chapter, "The New Left Turn," and the globalization chapter has been thoroughly revised to reflect the rapid pace of change over the past five years. The book continues to offer a rich variety of materials that can be tailored to the needs of individual instructors.

The reader's unique and successful chapter organization provides a thematic complement to narrative accounts of modern Latin American history. By focusing each chapter on a single concept or interpretive "problem"—such as nationalism, women's rights, or social revolution—the text engages students in the analysis of historical sources and, at the same time, introduces them to the twists and turns of historiography. In addition, the book includes several "reading images" sections that call on students to evaluate visual materials. With its innovative combination of primary and secondary sources and editorial analysis, this text is designed specifically to stimulate critical thinking in a wide range of courses on Latin American history since independence.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 16, 2009

Reviews

[Carla Arbelaez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best political science textbooks I've ever read. The selected excerpts from academic journals, essays, newspapers, and political declarations were sentimental and thoughtful time capsules of Latin American history. The best chapters were those on Race and Nation Building, Women and Social Change, Social Revolution, and Historical Memory.

[Lauren S]

read for class, super interesting and useful, i actually enjoyed doing the readings every week.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think what I liked about this book is that the authors did not just write about Latin American history. Instead, in each chapter/subject, the authors used actual letters, speeches, newspaper articles, etc., from all parties and perspectives so that the reader would be able to a more rounded understanding of what was happening in the particular moment in Latin American history.

[Izabella Britten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually really liked this book! I liked the first hand accounts, it provided a range of perspectives and ideas that was really helpful in understanding modern Latin America. I wish it talked a little bit more about some of the smaller countries. I feel like it really focused on Mexico, Argentina and Brazil and little bits of smaller countries but not a whole lot. Other than that I really enjoyed this book. It allowed me to put my AP History document training to use outside of high school so for that I am grateful. All that hard work really does pay off.

[Samuel Pratt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good compilation of different excerpts from many different sources, all touching on different problems with the history of Latin America. Some of them are a little dry, but many of them are powerful. It introduced me to many books that are now on my to read list. One of the things that I most enjoyed was that many of the pieces from this contained views that I didn’t or don’t agree with, but the way they were presented opened my eyes to another perspective.

[Brad Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great synthesis on the Peron movement and its relation to other leaders in Latin America.