What is Latin American History? surveys the development of this vibrant and dynamic field of study in North America, Latin America, and Europe. After briefly sketching the growth of the topic up to the 1960s, Marshall Eakin focuses on the past half-century, from the dominance of social history to the cultural turn. He surveys innovative work on topics including slavery, indigenous peoples, race, the environment, science, medicine, and gender, and ends with a discussion of the emergence of the concepts of borderlands, the Atlantic world, and transnational history - that both enrich and challenge the very idea of Latin America.

This concise volume offers the first broad overview of Latin American history and historiography for students, scholars, and the general reader, outlining the key social, cultural, and political forces that have shaped both Latin America and its study.

About the Author
Marshall Eakin is Professor of History at Vanderbilt University.

Reviews
"An insightful and engaging inquiry into the creation and evolution of Latin America history as a field of study in the United States that tells us as much about the region as about those aiming to understand it."
Jose Moya, Barnard College, Columbia University

"An excellent guide to the origin, expansion, and diversification of historical writing on Latin America, appropriately emphasizing developments since the mid-20th century, and duly recognizing the influence of anthropology and other social sciences on historical analysis of the region."
Thomas Holloway, University of California, Davis



Book Information
ISBN 9781509538522
Author Marshall Eakin
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 249g
Dimensions(mm) 218mm * 137mm * 15mm