Latin American Studies: Books

"In Colonial Reckoning Louis A. Pérez Jr. examines Cuba's Wars for Independence in the second half of the nineteenth century, focusing specifically on those Cubans who remained loyal to Spain. Drawing on newspaper articles, personal letters, military battle reports, government commissions, consular reports, literature, and other materials, Pérez shows how everyday black, white, and creole Cubans defended the Spanish empire alongside the white elites as paramilitary guerrillas. These loyalist Cubans helped the Spanish fight a separatist insurgency composed of a similarly diverse population of Cubans. Pérez demonstrates that these wars were so deadly and drawn out precisely because Cubans fought on both sides, each holding myriad competing visions of sovereignty and the contested meanings of nation. Complicating mythical and historiographical narratives that Cuban national liberation was a struggle waged between Cubans of color and white elites beholden to Spain, Pérez shows that it consisted of a great number of factions with unique and evolving motivations. In so doing, he interrogates anew the multifaceted social dimensions and multiple political aspects of the complex drama of Cuban national formation"-- Provided by publisher.

In Caring for the People of the Clouds, psychologist Jonathan Yahalom provides an emotionally evocative, story-rich analysis of family caregiving for Oaxacan elders liv-ing with dementia. Based on his extensive research in a Zapotec community, Yaha-lom presents the conflicted experience of providing care in a setting where illness is steeped in stigma and locals are concerned about social cohesion. Traditionally, the Zapotec, or "people of the clouds," respected their elders and venerated their ances-tors. Dementia reveals the difficulty of upholding those ideals today. Yahalom looks at how dementia is understood in a medically pluralist landscape, how it is treated in a setting marked by social tension, and how caregivers endure challenges among their families and the broader community.Yahalom argues that caregiving involves more than just a response to human depen-dency; it is central to regenerating local values and family relationships threatened by broader social change. In so doing, the author bridges concepts in mental health with theory from medical anthropology. Unique in its interdisciplinary approach, this book advances theory pertaining to cross-cultural psychology and develops anthropological insights about how aging, dementia, and caregiving disclose the intimacies of family life in Oaxaca.

"Updated to include the historic 2022 presidential election, this deeply informed and accessible book traces the history of Colombia thematically over the past two centuries. Michael J. LaRosa and Germán R. Mejía move beyond the common perception of a failed state to explore the rich heritage and dynamism that have characterized Colombia past and present"-- Provided by publisher.

2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of General Pinochet's coup on September 11, 1973. During the wave of mass arrests, torture, and executions that followed, people began fleeing Chile. Over the next fifteen years some two hundred thousand Chileans sought exile in countries around the world. Out of their anguish and anger come these moving and powerful testimonies of their fractured lives--the first oral history of the Chilean diaspora, now revised and updated. Many who fled had been tortured, and they clung to the principle that the dictatorship was an evil that had to be destroyed. But their zeal and solidarity with other refugees often failed to sustain families. Many marriages collapsed, and children lost interest in their native land and culture. After civilian rule returned in 1990, many returning exiles felt estranged from a homeland forever changed. This timely update of the 1998 collection continues to remind us of the fracturing legacy and enduring oppression of usurpation and authoritarian rule long after its time has passed.

This book tells the story of refuge, integration and regeneration. Through interviews and reliance on archival material, it recounts the lives of thirty six Jewish men and women, who emigrated to or were born in Cuba in the last century, who became part of the Cuban social fabric and whose presence in Cuba after 1959 kept the spirit of Judaism alive. They lived their Jewishness in very different ways, but all---in one way or another---lived it and shared its traditions.

The book is divided into three sets of interviews that frame the most significant temporal, geographic and ideological aspects that characterize this immigration.

Short Stories in Latin American Spanish has been written and designed for learners from beginner to intermediate level to both entertain and provide a sense of achievement while reading. If there’s a word or grammar structure you are not familiar with, you’ll find the English translation just below, which makes reading these stories an enjoyable and stress-free experience.

"Esta antología quiere mostrar la ligereza, la «borradura», el no género, el kitsch, el muñón o el self de algunos escritores. Sobre todo de esos que en el espacio Cuba comenzaron a publicar sus primeros libros a partir de los años noventa y hoy se mantienen circulando, o de aquellos que lo hicieron una década después y han consolidado un signo de identificación, una marquita. El hecho de que todos hayan nacido en Cuba no significa (...) que esa falla (la identidad como camisa de fuerza está más cerca de la política que de la literatura) sea la que condicione la escritura o los textos que en Teoría de la transficción podrán ser leídos. Al contrario. Esta falla, para mí, habla solamente de una ruta, de la manera en que esa ruta, que es también un inmenso work in progress, ha sido construida más allá de identidades, nacionalismos, ideologías, influencias o leyes, y se pierde en su propia problemática. O en su transversalidad."--Back cover.

"In this groundbreaking study, Diana Berruezo-Sánchez recovers key chapters in the history of Afro-Iberian diasporas by exploring the literary contributions and life experiences of black African communities and individuals in early modern Spain. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, international trade involving chattel slavery led to significant populations of enslaved, free(d), and half-manumitted black African women, men, and children in the Iberian Peninsula. These demographic changes transformed Spain's urban and social landscapes. " - Publisher description

This volume adds a selection of notebooks in which Borges prepared the numerous conferences he gave. In varying degrees of elaboration these notes constitute the largest amount of, until now, unpublished texts by Borges that are unknown after his death.

"This book is a long overdue assessment of Latin America's influence on global fashion. The authors examine the significance of textiles and dress to Latin American culture and the reasons behind it - from fashion history to popular culture and the (re)making of traditional garments, such as the poncho, the guayabera and maguey-fiber sandals. This book also considers fashion icons such as Frida Kahlo and Eva Peron, women who have been worshipped and transformed into marketable symbols of exoticism and passion, as well as the key role that dress played in their rise to celebrity on the international stage."--Jacket.

"This book approaches the social histories and contemporary lives of a diverse range of Latina and Latino populations, including immigrants, exiles, refugees, and US-born groups from across the Americas. Adopting a comparative ethnic studies lens that captures local and transnational perspectives on community, national and pan-ethnic identifications, and diverse social and demographic trends, this anthology emphasizes the breadth and dynamism of the ideas, debates, and questions that drive the dynamic field of Latinx Studies. This proposed anthology is unique, not only in its comparative, humanistic social science focus, but also in its structure and organization of key debates, what we call "critical diálogos," in Latinx Studies. The volume deliberately considers each contribution, not exclusively as a stand-alone piece, but as part of a larger disciplinary theme and interdisciplinary conversation. For instance, we highlight the strength of the inter-sectional, comparative, and interdisciplinary Latinx Studies scholarship in our decision to avoid rigid thematic sections (e.g. a section on "gender," or "youth"), in favor of weaving those thematic considerations in relation to broader scholarly discussions (e.g. a section on kinship and forms of relatedness or the world of work). This specific "debate framing" allows readers to identify specific areas of thematic interest, while remaining unavoidably attentive to the diversity and complexity of the everyday lives of Latinx populations, the political economic structures that shape enduring racialization and cultural stereotyping, and the continuing efforts to carve out new lives as diasporic, transnational, global, and colonial subjects"-- Provided by publisher.

"A new book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer about the twenty-first-century Latino experience and identity"-- Provided by publisher."Latino" is the most open-ended and loosely defined of the major race categories in the United States. Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of "Latino" assembles the Pulitzer Prize winner Héctor Tobar's personal experiences as the son of Guatemalan immigrants and the stories told to him by his Latinx students to offer a spirited rebuke to racist ideas about Latino people. Our Migrant Souls decodes the meaning of "Latino" as a racial and ethnic identity in the modern United States, and seeks to give voice to the angst and anger of young Latino people who have seen Latinidad transformed into hateful tropes about "illegals" and have faced insults, harassment, and division based on white insecurities and economic exploitation.

"Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Alfredo di Stéfano: in every generation Argentina has uncovered a uniquely brilliant soccer talent. Perhaps it's because the country lives and breathes the game, its theories, and its myths. Argentina's rich, volatile history--by turns sublime and ruthlessly pragmatic--is mirrored in the style and swagger of its national and club sides. In Angels with Dirty Faces, Jonathan WIlson chronicles the operatic drama of Argentinian soccer: the appropriation of the British game, the gold age of la nuestra, the exuberant style of playing that developed as Juan Perón led the country, a hardening into the brutal methods of anti-fútbol, the fusion of beauty and efficacy under César Luis Menotti, and the emergence of all-time greats"--Back cover.

"Rebel historian" Kelly Lytle Hernández reframes our understanding of U.S. history in this groundbreaking narrative of revolution in the borderlands. Bad Mexicans tells the dramatic story of the magonistas, the migrant rebels who sparked the 1910 Mexican Revolution from the United States. Led by a brilliant but ill-tempered radical named Ricardo Flores Magón, the magonistas were a motley band of journalists, miners, migrant workers, and more, who organized thousands of Mexican workers--and American dissidents--to their cause. Determined to oust Mexico's dictator, Porfirio Díaz, who encouraged the plunder of his country by U.S. imperialists such as Guggenheim and Rockefeller, the rebels had to outrun and outsmart the swarm of U. S. authorities vested in protecting the Diaz regime. The U.S. Departments of War, State, Treasury, and Justice as well as police, sheriffs, and spies, hunted the magonistas across the country. Capturing Ricardo Flores Magón was one of the FBI's first cases. But the magonistas persevered. They lived in hiding, wrote in secret code, and launched armed raids into Mexico until they ignited the world's first social revolution of the twentieth century. Taking readers to the frontlines of the magonista uprising and the counterinsurgency campaign that failed to stop them, Kelly Lytle Hernández puts the magonista revolt at the heart of U.S. history. Long ignored by textbooks, the magonistas threatened to undo the rise of Anglo-American power, on both sides of the border, and inspired a revolution that gave birth to the Mexican-American population, making the magonistas' story integral to modern American life--Provided by publisher.

"Today he is known as Dr. Q, an internationally renowned neurosurgeon and neuroscientist who leads cutting-edge research to cure brain cancer. But not too long ago, he was Freddy, a 19 year old undocumented migrant worker toiling in the tomato fields of Central California. In this gripping memoir, Alfredo Quinones Hinojosa tells his amazing life story from his impoverished childhood in the tiny village of Palaco, Mexico, to his harrowing border crossing and his transformation from illegal immigrant to American citizen and gifted student at the University of California at Berkeley and at Harvard Medical School. Packed with adventure and adversity including a few terrifying brushes with death"-- Provided by publisher

This text offers a comparative view of the two principal vice royalties of Spanish America: Mexico & Peru. Spanning developments from the 15th to the 19th century, it looks at the many ways & contexts in which indigenous people were represented in art of the early modern period - by colonial artists, European artists & themselves.

"In Cuba, the passing of Fidel Castro from this world and of Raúl Castro from power have raised urgent questions about the island's political future. In the United States, Barack Obama's opening to Cuba, the reversal of that policy during Donald Trump's administration, and Joseph Biden's apparent willingness to reinitiate open relations have made the nature of the historic relationship between the two nations a subject of debate once more. In both countries, the time is ripe for a new reckoning with Cuba's history and its relationship to the United States. Now, award-winning historian Ada Ferrer delivers an ambitious and moving chronicle of more than five hundred years of Cuban history, reconceived and written for a moment when history itself seems up for grabs. Starting on the eve of the arrival of Columbus and ending with the 2020 US presidential election, Cuba: An American History provides us with a front-row seat as we witness the evolution of modern Cuba, with its dramatic history of conquest and colonization, of slavery and freedom, of independence and revolutions made and unmade. Throughout, Ferrer explores the sometimes surprising, often troubled intimacy between Cuba and its neighbor to the north, documenting not only the influence of the United States on Cuba but also the many ways Cuba has been a recurring presence in US affairs. This, then, is a story of Cuba that will also give American readers unexpected insights into the history of their own country. Filled with rousing stories and characters, and drawing on over thirty years of research in Cuba, Spain, and the United States-as well as the author's own extensive travel in Cuba over the same period-this is a stunning and monumental history of Cuba like no other"-- Provided by publisher.

"Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, Deportes uncovers the hidden experiences of Mexican male and female athletes, teams and leagues and their supporters who fought for a more level playing field on both sides of the border. Despite a widespread belief that Mexicans shunned physical exercise, teamwork or "good sportsmanship," they proved that they could compete in a wide variety of sports at amateur, semiprofessional, Olympic and professional levels. Some even made their mark in the sports world by becoming the "first" Mexican athlete to reach the big leagues and win Olympic medals or world boxing and tennis titles. These sporting achievements were not theirs alone, an entire cadre of supporters-families, friends, coaches, managers, promoters, sportswriters, and fans-rallied around them and celebrated their athletic success. The Mexican nation and community, at home or abroad, elevated Mexican athletes to sports hero status with a deep sense of cultural and national pride. Alamillo argues that Mexican-origin males and females in the United States used sports to empower themselves and their community by developing and sustaining transnational networks with Mexico. Ultimately, these athletes and their supporters created a "sporting Mexican diaspora" that overcame economic barriers, challenged racial and gender assumptions, forged sporting networks across borders, developed new hybrid identities and raised awareness about civil rights within and beyond the sporting world"-- Provided by publisher.

"Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most beloved symbol of Mexican Catholicism, and devotion to her is widespread in the USA. While she has entranced and encouraged Mexican Catholics for several centuries, believers and even nonbelievers the world over are inspired and intrigued by her. Millions of pilgrims visit her shrine in Mexico City every year. Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis have travelled there to pray for her motherly intercession. And scientists from many disciplines have studied the amazing attributes of her mysterious image. In this glorious, lavishly illustrated book, the renowned author-photographer team Grzegorz Gorny and Janusz Rosikon take the reader on an illustrated pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe. They tell the amazing story of her apparition to Juan Diego in 1531 and its dramatic impact upon the destiny of an entire people. They interview the various experts on the image and reveal its symbolic messages, those of the past and those speaking to us today" --from the publisher.

In the lead-up to every election cycle, pundits predict that Latino Americans will overwhelmingly vote in favor of the Democratic candidate. And it's true--Latino voters do tilt Democratic. Hillary Clinton won the Latino vote in a "landslide," Barack Obama "crushed" Mitt Romney among Latino voters in his reelection, and, four years earlier, the Democratic ticket beat the McCain-Palin ticket by a margin of more than two to one. But those numbers belie a more complicated picture. Because of decades of investment and political courtship, as well as a nuanced and varied cultural identity, the Republican party has had a much longer and stronger bond with Hispanics. How is this possible for a party so associated with draconian immigration and racial policies?In The Hispanic Republican, historian and political commentator Geraldo Cadava illuminates the history of the millions of Hispanic Republicans who, since the 1960s, have had a significant impact on national politics. Intertwining the little understood history of Hispanic Americans with a cultural study of how post-World War II Republican politicians actively courted the Hispanic vote during the Cold War (especially Cuban émigrés) and during periods of major strife in Central America (especially during Iran-Contra), Cadava offers insight into the complicated dynamic between Latino liberalism and conservatism, which, when studied together, shine a crucial light on a rapidly changing demographic that will impact American elections for years to come.--back cover.

"Kugel and Frijoles: Latino Jews in the United States analyzes the changing construction of race and ethnicity in the United States through the lens of contemporary Jewish immigrants from Latin America. Since Latino Jews are not easily classified within the U.S. racial and ethnic schema, their ethnic identity and group affiliation challenge existing paradigms. Author Laura Limonic offers a view into the lives of this designation of Jewish immigrants, highlighting the ways in which they adopt different identities (e.g., national, religious, or panethnic) in response to different actors and situations. Limonic begins by introducing the stories of Latino Jewish immigrants and laying out the important questions surrounding ethnic identity: How do Latino Jews identify? Can they choose their identity or is it assigned to them? How is ethnicity strategic or instrumental? These larger questions are placed within the existing scholarly literature on immigrant integration, religion, and ethnic group construction. Limonic explains how groups can be constructed when there is a lack of a perfect host group and details the ways different factors influence ethnic identity and shape membership into ethnic groups. The book concludes that group construction is never static in the United States, and, in particular, how race, religion, and class are increasingly important mediating factors in defining ethnicity and ethnic identity. As the Latino population continues to grow in the United States, so does the influence of millions of Latinos on U.S. culture, politics, economy, and social structure. Kugel and Frijoles offers new insight with which to understand the diversity of Latinos, the incorporation of contemporary Jewish immigrants, and the effect of U.S. ethno-racial structures for immigrant assimilation"--Amazon.com.

"He had been convinced to do so by a duplicitous Napoleon III. Keen to spread his own interests abroad, the French emperor promised Maximilian a hero's welcome, which he would ensure with his own mighty military support. Instead, Maximilian walked into a bloody guerrilla war - and with a headful of impractical ideals and a penchant for pomp and butterflies, the so-called new emperor was singularly unequipped for the task. The ensuing saga would feature the great world leaders of the day, popes, bandits and queens; intrigue, conspiracy and cut-throat statecraft, as Mexico became the pivotal battleground in the global balance of power, between Old Europe and the burgeoning force of the New World: American imperialism. The Last Emperor of Mexico is the vivid history of this barely known, barely believable episode - a bloody tragedy of operatic proportions, and a vital debacle, the effects of which would be felt into the twentieth century and beyond"--Publisher's description.

"Spanning a nearly twenty-year period, from the end of World War I to repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment and beyond, The Line Riders reveals an often overlooked and violent chapter in American history and introduces the officers that guarded the international boundary when the West was still wild"-- Provided by publisher.

"Many West Coast Latino boxers have entered and departed the ring, their anecdotes left behind like another stain on the mat. Latino boxing stories have floated around for ages without the benefit of being passed down from generation to generation. Buried tales and colorful narratives of beloved Mexican ring idols such as Ruben Olivares, Mando Ramos, Carlos Zarate, Danny "Little Red" Lopez, Bobby Chacon, Carlos Palomino, and Alberto Davila are showcased in these pages, their stories revived because no champion deserves to be forgotten. Other overlooked heroes and one-hit wonders of the golden era of Southland boxing (1940s-1970s) will also be saluted, along with the bygone contenders of the barrio who never saw their name in neon lights."--Provided by the publisher.

"In a genre-defying blend of history and first-person narrative, Jesus Salas examines the history of migrant labor in the United States and the migrant farmworkers' movement of the 1950s-1970s." - Provided by publisher.

"The inspired true story of a segregated unit whose exploits underscored the forgotten Latino contribution to the Allied victory in World War II" -- Back cover."Embroiled in savage combat, soldiers whose service has gone unrecognized until now. As a child, Dave Gutierrez hung on every word his father recalled about his cousin Ramon, "El Sancudo" (the mosquito), and his service in World War II, where he earned a Silver Star, three Purple Hearts, and escaped from the Germans twice. Later, Dave decided to find out more about his father's cousin, and in the course of his research he discovered that Ramon Gutierrez was a member of Company E, 141st Infantry, a part of the 36th "Texas" Division that was comprised entirely of Mexican Americans--the only such unit in the entire U.S. Army. The division landed at Salerno, Italy, in 1943, among first American soldiers to set foot in Europe. In the ensuing months, Company E and the rest of the 36th would battle their way up the mountainous Italian peninsula against some of Nazi Germany's best troops. In addition to the merciless rain, mud, and jagged peaks, swift cold rivers crisscrossed the region, including the Rapido, where Company E would face its greatest challenge. In an infamous episode, the 36th Division was ordered to cross the Rapido despite reports that the opposite bank was heavily defended. In the ensuing debacle, the division was ripped apart, and Company E sustained appalling casualties. The company rebounded and made the storied landings at Anzio and ultimately invaded southern France for a final push into Germany. The men of Company E distinguished themselves as rugged fighters capable of warring amid the rubble of destroyed villages and in the devastated countryside. Based on extensive archival research and veteran and family accounts, Patriots from the Barrio: The Story of Company E, 141st Infantry: The Only All Mexican American Army Unit in World War II brings to life the soldiers whose service should never have gone unrecognized for so long. With its memorable personalities, stories of hope and immigration, and riveting battle scenes, this beautifully written book is a testament to the shared beliefs of all who have fought for the ideals of the American flag."--Amazon.com

"Pietro La Greca Sr. was an intimidating Napolitano con man dubbed "Mexico's real-life Don Corleon." He ran Mexico's biggest money-laundering scheme during the worst economic period in the country's history. His was a world of fast cars, mansions on the water, and VIP treatment at Las Vegas casinos. His exploitation of Mexico's financial free fall made him a wealthy man. But while he was running his criminal empire, his son, Pietro Jr., a.k.a. Picho, was learning his father's tricks--if only to bring the man down ..."--Page 2 of cover.

Born into a family of migrant workers, toiling in the fields by the age of six, Jose M. Hernández dreamed of traveling through the night skies on a rocket ship. [The book] is the inspiring story of how he realized that dream, becoming the first Mexican-American astronaut. Hernández didn't speak English till he was 12, and his peers often joined gangs, or skipped school. And yet, by his twenties he was part of an elite team helping develop technology for the early detection of breast cancer. He was turned down by NASA eleven times on his long journey to donning that famous orange space suit. Hernández message of hard work, education, perseverance, of "reaching for the stars," makes this a classic American autobiography.

"Spanish in Health Care fills an important gap by offering a panoramic overview of the research on Spanish in health settings that is emerging from a variety of disciplines. Synthesizing research from diverse disciplines such as sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, health services research, behavioural health research, health policy and administration, and social epidemiology, the volume offers a uniquely unified approach to the subject of Spanish in healthcare. This volume will be of interest to researchers in Spanish linguistics, sociolinguistics, health communication, and languages for specific purposes"-- Provided by publisher.

This book "provides students with a curated, multi-disciplinary selection of works ranging from classic to contemporary readings."-- publisher.

"Testimonies of a diverse group of young Latina and Latino Catholics about their personal stories of how they integrate their faith into their lives, in order to invite other young adult Hispanic Catholics to do the same and aid those in pastoral ministry in their work with this group."-- Provided by publisher.

"The first universally acknowledged Latino inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Clemente played every one of his 18 seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He became the 11th player to reach the 3,000-hit milestone, finishing his final season by hitting number 3000 on the season's last day. Named to 15 All-Star Game squads, Clemente also won 12 Gold Gloves, four batting titles, and was the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1966. He was twice a World Series champion, winning with the Pirates in both 1960 and 1971. But off the baseball diamond, Clemente was known for his charitable work. He lost his life on the final day of 1972 while working to provide relief for victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua. He was aboard a plane loaded with relief supplies--the fourth such plane he had helped to stock--and had decided to accompany the flight personally to ensure the supplies were reaching those in need of aid and not merely falling into the hands of profiteers. The plane crashed immediately after takeoff from Puerto Rico, a tragic loss for baseball and the world. This book is the collaborative work of 41 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Examining Clemente's baseball career, the book includes recaps of many of Clemente's greatest games, as well as chapters on his relationship with the press, his connections to Nicaragua and players such as Monte Irvin, and his continuing effects on players from Latin America as a role model today."--Publisher's description.