Customer Reviews

The Penguin History of Latin America

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As someone who always wondered about Latin American history - this book offered a superb introduction. It combines a broad sweep over the colonial period with briefer country-specific essays on the post-colonial histories of the the larger Latin Anerican nations. Reading it one gets a good sense of the common heritage of South America.

As others have noted, this is a highly readable introduction to Latin American history. I had no background whatsoever on this subject and wanted to find out more, and this was just the right book. I found its coverage of modern (i.e., 19th and 20th century) history of Brazil, Chile, and Mexico to be quite illuminating. However, its treatment of cultural history was not as useful; I wish he had provided more excerpts of the original works of the writers and poets discussed. But, all in all, a very handy introduction. I am going to proceed to other books on Latin American history, and that is due in no small part to this work.

This book is a testimony that Mr. Williamson can be rated as a top notch literary critic. He is also a good English Historian. So here you have it: he combines the sensibility and mastery of language of a man of letters with the rigor and deapth of knowledge of an academic Historian to give us an introduction to Latin America through her history. What results is a complete and readable synthesis of the main currents in Latin politics, economy, society and literature.

Mr. Williamson's underlying thesis is that of the search of Latin American societies for Modernity defined as a democratic, liberal and self-conscious state of affairs. The history is therefore roller-coasterish. But then Mr. Williamson will make your ride enjoyable.

Since the history of Latin America is so intriguing, I was expecting this book to be a bit more intriguing. It is a very broad-brush book; a little more anecdotal and personal stories could help flesh it out a bit.

But it does give excellent insight and precise analysis into the how's and why's of why Latin America is the way it is today, and that has increased my understanding of the Latin culture tremendously.

One of our children is involved in the school academic club. In preparation for an upcoming competition is required to read this book. My spouse and I are glad to see the children involved in reading various forms of literature. For this review we can only say the book has met all expectations. Once our child has completed the competition we can obtain more details on the flow and content of the book.

We purchased the book used and the quality was great! We will continue to purchase a mix of new and used books as appropriate for the usage and perceived length of ownership.

The history is concise but extremely difficult to read due to its very small print. This book has been assigned as the primary reading source for UIL academic contest in Texas, but I feel many will choose to not do the contest due to the book's lengthy passages. Several chapters feel like they take forever to finish, and its 700+ pages are very intimidating to teenage readers. Producing a larger version in print and size would help its readability. I did fine myself caught up in its history telling where some passages will inspire the reader to learn even more about the subject.

Just got the book. Its really cheaply made. Very thin wrinkly flimsy paper and the binding is kind of kinked. I never would have purchased from a bookstore in this condition. I should return it, but it's a hassle to do that. What I will do is avoid any other books from this publisher. My advice is don't buy it in this format. Amazon, don't ship out flimsy books like this.

I skimmed through the text and it seems ok. I will post an actual review of the text later.

The book is well written for a history book. It is very easy to read.

I have been able to find this book only with you. I need it for my university exam. Very good organisation even it's a little bit expensive. Anyway for a ggod job I am ready to pay.

thx & rgds

FRank Brunone

How can you write a history of Latin America and not write about the Haitian Revolution or Haiti in general? Simon Bolivar was educated, inspired, and helped by the Haitians to free South America. Totally irresponsible history.