This is one of the few single volumes that gives a history of the whole colonial period in all of Latin America from European discovery to independence. "Context" is the key word for the book. By looking at the region as a whole over a long timeline, the authors can trace trends, find commonalities, and provide a context for the motivations and actions of societies, groups, and individuals. These trends can be projected into modern times and provide context for current events. The authors admirably take a high level view of events without imposing anachronistic judgments on the reader. Readers who require heroes, vignettes, asides, or stories to focus on will be disappointed. Named individuals rarely get a paragraph and there isn't anything to develop an attachment to.

Besides being a college textbook, it is a sincere work of history. It reads easily and the authors avoid pedantry, technical jargon, overblown equations, and complicated diagrams or charts. Included charts and diagrams are comprehensible at a glance. Maps and figures are placed at the discussion material. I noticed no typos, grammar errors, misspellings, or other editorial slipups. The "abbreviated" bibliography is extensive.

In my rating systems, 3 is for a solid book. So 3.5 stars means it has a wealth of pertinent information, the analysis is good, the book is a good quality, BUT it is a bit dry. Although I didn't necessarily enjoy the book, I learned quite a bit. If I had to pick one book or a first book on early Latin America, this would be it. ( )

This book provides a general history of Latin America in the period between the European conquest and the independence of the Spanish American countries and Brazil.