C. COLONIAL PERIOD TO INDEPENDENCE
SHORT LIST
1. Diffie, Baily. Latin American Civilization:
Colonial Period. New York: Octagon, 1967.
“Classic” but useful traditional study for
an historical overview.
2. Graham, Richard. Independence in Latin America.
New York: Knopf, 1972.*
A liberal academic’s historical and sociolog-
ical study of the independence movements.
3. Humphrey, Robin A. and John Lynch, eds. The
Origins of the Latin American Revolutions,
1808-1826. New York: Knopf, 1966.*
A reader which presents a variety of views
on the independence movements and their
causes.
4. Parry, J. H. The Spanish Seaborne Empire.
London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1966.
Traditional summary of Spain’s imperial
policies and institutions.
5. Stein, Stanley and Barbara Stein. The Colonial
Heritage of Latin America. Essays on
Economic Dependence in Perspective. New
York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1970.*
A general survey showing the roots of contem-
porary Latin American dependence from a left-
liberal perspective.
6. Vicens Vives, Jaime. Approaches to the His-
tory of Spain. Trans. Joan Connelly Ull-
man. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of California
Press, 1970.*
Basic background information.
LONG LIST
7. Arcila Farias, Eduardo. La economia colonial
de Venezuela. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura
Economica, 1946.
A progressive historical analysis.
*refers to paperback edition.7
8. Arnade, Charles W. The Emergence of the
Republic of Bolivia. Gainsville, Fla.:
Univ. of Florida Press, 1957.
An academic study. Interesting in that it shows how group economic interests
influenced their changing attitudes
toward independence.
9. Bagu, Sergio. Economia de la sociedad
colonial. Buenos Aires: El Ateneo, 1949
and Estructura social de la colonia. Buenos
Aires: El Ateneo, 1952.
Two classics which formed the basis for
later research on imperialism and dependency.
10. Boxer, C.R. Golden Age of Brazil, 1695-1750.
Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of California Press,
1962.*
A good academic study of social and
economic structures.
11. . Race Relations in the Portuguese
Colonial Empire. New York: Oxford Univ.
Press, 1963.
A good, short survey of racial oppression
in Portuguese territories.
12. Brading, David A. Miners and Merchants in
Bourbon Mexico, 1763-1810. New York and
London: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1971.
Academic study documenting the formation of
large capital concerns in Mexico and
pointing out their eventual take-over by
foreign capital.
13. Bushnell, David. The Santander Regime in
Gran Colombia. Westport, Conn.:
Greenwood, 1954.
Academic monograph on the transition from
independence to the national period.
14. Chevalier, Francois. Land and Society in
Colonial Mexico: The Great Hacienda.
Lesley Bird Simpson, ed. Trans. Alvin
Eustis. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of
California Press, 1970.*
A well documented study of primitive
accumulation via the formation of large
landed estates in Mexico.
15. Florescano, Enrique. Precios del maiz y crisis
agricolas en Mexico (1708-1810). Mexico:
Centro de Estudios Historicos, El
Colegio de Mexico, 1969.
A technical study showing the connections
between economic fluctuations and
political phenomena.
16. Gibson, Charles. The Aztecs Under Spanish
Rule: A History of the Valley of Mexico, 1519-1810. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford
Univ. Press, 1964.
A solid summary of Mexican colonial society
and institutions by a North American.
17. Gongora, Mario. El estado en el derecho indiano: epoca de fundacion, 1492-1570.
Santiago: Instituto de Investigaciones
Historico-Culturales, Facultad de Filosofia
y Educacion, Universidad de Chile, 1951.
A study of the theory and practice of
empire as it developed in the early years following the
conquest of the Americas.
18. . Origen de los “inquilinos” de
Chile central. Santiago: Universitaria, 1960.
A study of the development of the rural
social system of dependency.
19. Leon-Portilla, Miguel. The Broken Spears: The
Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico.
Trans. Angel Maria Garibay and Lysander Kemp. Boston: Beacon Press, 1966.*
The Conquest of Mexico from the Aztec point of view.
20. Lockhart, James. Spanish Peru, 1532-1560:
A Colonial Society. Madison, Wis.: Univ.
of Wisconsin Press, 1968.
An academic survey of the Spanish population showing the diverse social groups; combats
the traditional image of a few Spanish
adventurers swashbuckling their way through the continent.
21. Oddone, Jacinto. La burguesia terrateniente
argentina. Buenos Aires: Libera, 1967.
Documents the formation of large land
holdings in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
22. Prado, Caio, Jr. The Colonial Background of Modern Brazil. Trans. Suzette Macedo.
Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of California Press, 1969.*
Best Marxist study of colonial Brazil.
23. Sauer, Carl. The Early Spanish Main. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of California Press, 1966.
A study of the early years of Spanish
conquest and its disastrous impact on the ecology and demography of the Caribbean area.24. Vitale, Luis. Interpretacion marxista de la
historia de Chile. 2 vols. $antiago:
Prensa Latinoamericana, 1972.
Marxist history of Chile to 1810.
25. Williams, Eric E. Capitalism and Slavery.
New York: Putnam, 1966.*
A leftist classic on the abolition movement.
26. Wolfe, Eric R. Sons of the Shaking Earth.
Chicago, Phoenix, 1959.*
An excellent interpretative essay on
Mesoamerican pre-history and the colonial
period.
SEE: D:5; D:12; D:17; D:19; Q:3.
‘1
D. GENERAL WORKS
SHORT LIST
1. Area Handbooks. Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Government Printing Office.*
Formerly called U.S. Army Handbooks; they
are available on just about every country
in Latin America and are a valuable source
of general information. Prepared at
American University for the orientation
of U.S. military officers, they cover
topics such as labor, religion, media and
national security.
2. De Castro, Josue, John Gerassi and Irving L.
Horowitz, eds. Latin American Radicalism:
A Documentary Report on Left and National Movements. New York: Vintage, 1969.*
A good general collection of articles and
documents ranging from liberal to radical
analyses of present-day Latin America.
3. Frank, Andre Gunder. Latin America:
Underdevelopment or Revolution. New York:
Modern Reader, 1971.*
A critique of bourgeois theories of
“development” including that of
W. W. Rostow.
4. Gerassi, John. The Great Fear in Latin
America. New York: Collier, 1st ed.,
1963.*
A general analysis of contemporary Latin
American socio-economic conditions written
from a left-liberal point of view.
5. Halperin Donghi, Tulio. Historia contemporanea
de America Latina. Madrid: Alianza, 1969.
Probably the best non-Marxist one volume
history of Latin America; treats the area
as a unified whole.
6. Herring, Hubert H. History of Latin America.
New York: Knopf, 3rd ed., 1968.
Best single source for names, dates and
political history, lacking in interpretation.
7. Petras, James and Maurice Zeitlin, eds.
Latin America: Reform or Revolution?
Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett, 1969.”
An excellent reader containing essays on
economics, social structure, dependency
guerrillas, etc. from varying left
perspectives.
8. Arevalo, Juan Jose. The Shark and the Sardines.
New York: Lyle Stuart, 1961.
A view of U.S. domination written by a
left nationalist.
9. Election Factbooks. Washington, D.C.:
Institute for the Comparative Study of
Political Systems.
Periodic studies of recent Latin American
elections done by academics and sponsored
by a government-funded operation. Data
is generally good. The Institute also
sponsors a Political Studies Series that
focuses on coups and other timely topics.
10. Frank, Andre Gunder. Lumpen-Bourgeoisie and
Lumpen-Development. Dependency, Class and
Politics in Latin America. Trans. Marion
Davis Berdecio. New York: Monthly Review, 1973.Analysis of the internal mechanisms of
dependency by an important Marxist
theoretician.
9
for Marxist Studies (AIMS), 1971.
A basic leftist bibliography.
, Rodolfo Puiggros and
Ernesto Leclau. America Latina: Feudalismo
o capitalismo? Bogota: La Oveja Negra, 1972.
Three Marxist positions discussing whether
feudalism or capitalism characterized early
Latin American development.
12. Furtado, Celso. The Economic Development of
Latin America. A Survey From Colonial Times
to the Cuban Revolution. New York:
Cambridge Univ. Press., 1972.*
Best introduction to Latin American economic
problems by a liberal economist.
13. Galeano, Eduardo. Las venas abiertas de
America Latina. Mexico: Siglo XXI, 1971.
Leftist view of U.S. exploitation of
Latin America.
14. Griffin, Keith. Underdevelopment in Spanish
America. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1969.
A left-liberal evaluation of Latin American
economies.
15. Latin American Center. University of
California at Los Angeles. Statistical
Abstract of Latin America. Annual
Publication.*
A compilation based on the latest available
statistics covering diverse aspects of
Latin America.
16. Lewis, Gordon K. The Modern West Indies.
New York: Modern Reader, 1970.*
Basic history of the West Indies by a
left-liberal.
17. Randall, Laura. A Comparative Economic History
of Latin America. Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,
and Peru, 1500-1914. New York: Emerson Hall,
1973.
A well-researched non-Marxist interpretation.
18. Spalding, Hobart A., Jr. “Revolutionary
Ideologies in Latin America” in Joseph S.
Tulchin, ed. Problems in Latin America:
The Modern Period.* New York: Harper and
Row, 1973, pp. 389-446.
A brief Marxist exposition on differing
existing revolutionary analyses with good
documentary material.
19. Wolpin, Miles D. United States Intervention
in Latin America: A Selected and Annotated
Bibliography. New York: American Institute
PART III: TOPICS
L CHURCH
SHORT LIST
1. Between Honesty and Hope: Documents from and
About the Church in Latin America. Trans.
John Drury. Maryknoll, New York: Maryknoll
Publications, 1970.*
A good progressive documentary collection,
with selections from official and unofficial
sources at various levels of the Catholic
hierarchy.
2. Castro Villagrana, B., et al. La iglesia, el
subdesarrollo y la revolucion. Mexico:
Nuestro Tiempo, 1968.*
A series of essays, written largely by
leftists, on Latin America in general and
the Church in particular.
3. Edwards, Rick. “Latin American Christians in
the Liberation Struggle,” in NACLA Report,
Vol. VI, No. 3, Mar. 1972, 11-23.
Interviews with left Christian leaders from
the Dominican Republic and Chile, plus a
letter from Argentine guerrillas to that
country’s priests for the Third -World
movement.
4. . “Protestant Missions: Prelimi-
nary Notes,” in NACLA Newsletter, Vol. IV,
No. 8, Dec. 1970, 19-23; and “Protestant
Ethic and Imperial Mission,” in NACLA Report,
Vol. VI, No. 2, Feb. 1972, 1-15.
These articles analyze the role of mission-
aries in promoting imperialist expansion.
5. Gheert It, Alain, ed. La iglesia rebelde de
America Latina. Mexico: Siglo XXI, 1970.
Excellent documentary study of radical
church, more comprehensive than item 1 of
this section.
6. Gutierrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation:
History, Politics, and Salvation. Trans.
Sister Caridad Inda and John Eagleson.
Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1973.
An influential Peruvian exponent of Latin
America’s liberation theology.
11.
SEE: C:5.
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