Latin America A Social History of the Colonial Period [Paperback]

Jonathan C. Brown (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0030553873 | ISBN-13: 978-0030553875 | Publication Date: January 7, 2000 | Edition: 1

This comprehensive narrative covers Latin America's pre-Colombian and colonial periods, including its civil war and struggle for independence. Brown's clear, lively prose stresses social history (as opposed to political history).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"(This text) is both thorough in treatment and comprehensive in scope. The writing is clear, logically arranged, and often engaging, well suited for use in undergraduate classes. The author's vision builds upon social history, and he carries out that vision to its fullest."

"The key strength of this text is that it offers clear overviews of imperial structures and economic processes, essential basics for introductory courses, while focusing on diverse peoples in diverse regions, thus providing the context for explorations of cultural history."

"By deciding to do a textbook focusing on the social history of colonial Latin America, the author has done the field a great service." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Jonathan C. Brown is Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin. He has published four single-authored books: A SOCIOECONOMIC HISTORY OF ARGENTINA, 1776-1860 (1979); OIL AND REVOUTION IN MEXICO (1993), LATIN AMERICA: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD (2000), and A BRIEF HISTORY OF ARGENTINA (2003). Two of these books have been translated and published in Latin America. His first book on Argentina, published by Cambridge University Press, won the Bolton Prize, while the colonial volume won the Hamilton Prize of the University Cooperative Society. Brown also edited a collection of essays on workers and populism in Latin America and co-edited books on the Mexican oil industry and on Argentine social history. He has published articles in the AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, the LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH REVIEW, the HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, and in Mexican and Argentine academic journals. His long-range research project concerns the formation of the Mexican oil workers union. Between 1988 and 1998, Brown directed numerous seminars in U.S. studies for Latin American scholars, as well as a university affiliation project in U.S. studies with the Universidad de Chile that was funded by the United States Information Agency.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 1 edition (January 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0030553873
• ISBN-13: 978-0030553875
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,045,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Latin America: A Social History of the Colonial Period, November 3, 2010

By 

Elaine - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Latin America: A Social History of the Colonial Period (with InfoTrac) (Paperback)

This book is good.It has a lot of informtion on the history of Latin America.

4.0 out of 5 stars detailed history of oppression, December 5, 2008

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Latin America: A Social History of the Colonial Period (with InfoTrac) (Paperback)

The book spans the centuries from the European arrival in the Americas to the colonisation by Spain and Portugal. The emphasis is on understanding the different societies and how people lived under various rulers, rather than being a more traditional account of warring events.

Special attention is given the experiences of native Americans, whose societies were often shattered under the European onslaught. There was a large loss of life, perhaps due mostly to diseases for which they had little resistance. We see a merging of the surviving natives with the lighter skinned Europeans and the descendents of the latter. In some regions like the Amazon, the dense jungles severely inhibited European invasion, and many native groups were able to survive longer.

African Americans are also accorded some detailed treatment in the book. The Middle Passage into slavery was a terrible experience that mostly destroyed their languages and cultures.

The book ends with the colonies achieving independence from Spain and Portugal during the 19th century. As a textbook, it is suited for a reader without any previous exposure to the subject.