LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY

The History of Latin America



Collision of Cultures

Summary

The book “Latin history of America “collision of cultures” is written by Marshall C. Eakin. The books provide readers with a synthetic general idea of the expanse from peopling of the hemisphere until the present. The author has divided the book in to four major parts each covering distinct aspect of the Latin American history. The initial first part of the book discusses the meeting of three distinct groups of people (Africans, Europeans, indigenous) in the United States of America. The second part of the book inspects the establishment of Portuguese and Spanish empires and the movement for independence that brought them to a conclusion. The third part provides with the surveys of major themes of the nineteenth century: conservative and liberals, imperialism, modernization. (Marshall, 2007)The most fourth part of the book is the most detailed part which analyzes the twentieth century through a lens of development, democracy, and identity.

The author has made contrasts revolutionary paths to social change (Guatemala, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua and Bolivia) with reformist states (Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Chile), and argues that reform is the best course for Latin America. Readers may question the assessment done by the author, as the reformist course has resulted in some of the worst dictatorships and proved unsuccessful for producing social indicators any better than those states who have passed through a revolutionary change. A narrative history of Latin American history is spread over five centuries from the beginning of the Columbian movement to the present modern era, the book focuses on the collision of the three different peoples and cultures. This union of cultures and people is the foundation for both the contention and strife of the expanse, as well as its remarkable diversity and unity. In this book ...