A New York Times Notable Book of the year.Acclaimed around the world and a national best-seller, this is the definitive work on Che Guevara, the dashing rebel whose epic dream was to end poverty and injustice in Latin America and the developing world through armed revolution. Jon Lee Anderson’s biography traces Che’s extraordinary life, from his comfortable Argentine upbringing to the battlefields of the Cuban revolution, from the halls of power in Castro’s government to his failed campaign in the Congo and assassination in the Bolivian jungle.Anderson has had unprecedented access to the personal archives maintained by Guevara’s widow and carefully guarded Cuban government documents. He has conducted extensive interviews with Che’s comrades—some of whom speak here for the first time—and with the CIA men and Bolivian officers who hunted him down. Anderson broke the story of where Guevara’s body was buried, which led to the exhumation and state burial of the bones. Many of the details of Che’s life have long been cloaked in secrecy and intrigue. Meticulously researched and full of exclusive information, Che Guevara illuminates as never before this mythic figure who embodied the high-water mark of revolutionary communism as a force in history. Read more

“An old-fashioned jungle adventure, one with rare immediacy and depth of feeling for the people and creatures [Rosolie] encounters.” —Wall Street JournalFor fans of The Lost City of Z, Walking the Amazon, and Turn Right at Machu Picchu comes naturalist and explorer Paul Rosolie’s extraordinary adventure in the uncharted tributaries of the Western Amazon—a tale of discovery that vividly captures the awe, beauty, and isolation of this endangered land and presents an impassioned call to save it.In the Madre de Dios—Mother of God—region of Peru, where the Amazon River begins its massive flow, the Andean Mountain cloud forests fall into lowland Amazon Rainforest, creating the most biodiversity-rich place on the planet. In January 2006, when he was just a restless eighteen-year-old hungry for adventure, Paul Rosolie embarked on a journey to the west Amazon that would transform his life.Venturing alone into some of the most inaccessible reaches of the jungle, he encountered giant snakes, floating forests, isolated tribes untouched by outsiders, prowling jaguars, orphaned baby anteaters, poachers in the black market trade in endangered species, and much more. Yet today, the primordial forests of the Madre de Dios are in danger from developers, oil giants, and gold miners eager to exploit its natural resources.In Mother of God, this explorer and conservationist relives his amazing odyssey exploring the heart of this wildest place on earth. When he began delving deeper in his search for the secret Eden, spending extended periods in isolated solitude, he found things he never imagined could exist. “Alone and miniscule against a titanic landscape I have seen the depths of the Amazon, the guts of the jungle where no men go, Rosolie writes. “But as the legendary explorer Percy Fawcett warned, ‘the few remaining unknown places of the world exact a price for their secrets.’”Illustrated with 16 pages of color photos. Read more

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It is astonishing that Simón Bolívar, the great Liberator of South America, is not better known in the United States. He freed six countries from Spanish rule, traveled more than 75,000 miles on horseback to do so, and became the greatest figure in Latin American history. His life is epic, heroic, straight out of Hollywood: he fought battle after battle in punishing terrain, forged uncertain coalitions of competing forces and races, lost his beautiful wife soon after they married and never remarried (although he did have a succession of mistresses, including one who held up the revolution and another who saved his life), and he died relatively young, uncertain whether his achievements would endure. Drawing on a wealth of primary documents, novelist and journalist Marie Arana brilliantly captures early nineteenth-century South America and the explosive tensions that helped revolutionize Bolívar. In 1813 he launched a campaign for the independence of Colombia and Venezuela, commencing a dazzling career that would take him across the rugged terrain of South America, from Amazon jungles to the Andes mountains. From his battlefield victories to his ill-fated marriage and legendary love affairs, Bolívar emerges as a man of many facets: fearless general, brilliant strategist, consummate diplomat, passionate abolitionist, gifted writer, and flawed politician. A major work of history, Bolívar colorfully portrays a dramatic life even as it explains the rivalries and complications that bedeviled Bolívar’s tragic last days. It is also a stirring declaration of what it means to be a South American. Read more

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Constitutional reform has been one of the most significant aspects of democratization in late twentieth century Latin America. In The Friendly Liquidation of the Past—one of the first texts to examine this issue comprehensively —Van Cott focuses on the efforts of Bolivia and Colombia to incorporate ethnic rights into their fragile democracies. In the1990s, political leaders and social movements in Bolivia and Colombia expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of democracy--its exclusionary nature, the distance and illegitimacy of the state, and the empty promise of citizenship. The highly symbolic act of constitution making elevated a public struggle for rights to the level of a discussion on the meaning of democracy and the nature of the state. Based on interviews with more than 100 participants in the reforms, Van Cott demonstrates how issues promoted by social movements—recognizing ethnic diversity, expanding political participation and improving representation, and creating spheres of cultural and territorial autonomy—were placed on the constitutional reform agenda and transformed through strategic interaction with political power-brokers into the nation’s highest law. The analysis follows each reform through five years of implementation to assess the early results of what Van Cott suggests is an emerging regional model of multicultural constitutionalism. The Friendly Liquidation of the Past fills an important gap in the study of ethnic politics and constitutional reform in the Andes, linking the literature on institutions and political reform to work in political theory on participatory democracy and multiculturalism. Read more

In the early 1950s, two families would leave West Germany for foreign shores, albeit for different reasons. The patriarchs had participated in the Second World War in distinct ways – one as an innocuous wartime photographer, the other as a murderous sadist. Each was hoping to start a new life far away from the carnage and memory of the war and to lose themselves and their families in their new environs of La Paz, Bolivia. Hans Ertl, the noted mountaineer and filmographer, would arrive with his wife Aurelia and their three young daughters. The eldest, Monika, was as precocious as any thirteen-year-old and was never willing to shun a confrontation nor wilt in the face of intimidation. Her resolve as an adolescent would carry her into adulthood, where fate and world events would lead her to actions that would strike fear in the hearts of the ruling status quo. The Altmanns, a family of four, would arrive a year after the Ertls and settle into the same expat community of La Paz. Klaus Altmann would posture himself as a mid-level German officer who had earned two Iron Crosses for heroic combat in both theaters. But unlike Hans Ertl, his name and exploits were a sham. Only a select few would know his true identity and he would remain ruthless in keeping it that way. He had learned nothing during the war nor did he care. His goal would be to sell his talents to the highest bidder and on a continent with multiple reactionary military dictatorships, he would have plenty of opportunity. Though the two families would eventually become close friends, the political and social ideologies of young Monika and those of her Onkel Klaus would be incompatible to the other and each would take actions to make theirs a reality. At the same time, both would have other issues with which to contend. Whereas various Allied governments, Nazi hunters, revenge seekers and the Mossad would be a threat to one, the Bolivian secret police, the CIA, Interpol and an entire army of international intelligence agents would be in pursuit of the other. While both Monika and Altmann attacked the purveyors of the other’s ideology through cunning, skill and the point of a gun, it would only be a matter of time where taking out each other would become their inevitable end. But only one could succeed. Read more

Elongated human skulls have been found in the archaeological record on every inhabited continent, and most commonly these people existed about 2000 years ago. The vast majority were elite members of various societies and artificial cranial deformation was performed on them as infants in order to achieve a specific look so as to differentiate them from the general public. Nowhere was this more commonplace than in Peru and Bolivia, and this book sets out to figure out where these societies lived, when, and how they may have been related. The most mysterious aspect is that some of the ancient people of Peru and Bolivia may have in fact been born with elongated skulls. Should this turn out through medical examination to be true, the history of humanity many have to be re-written. Read more

Ancient Peru and Bolivia, like Egypt, contain enigmas and mysteries, especially in stone which most conventional scholarship can`t explain. Rather than simply being the exclusively the works of cultures such as the Inca, there are many megalithic wonders which defy both the conventional time lines and known levels of technology attributed to the ancient people of South America. The most glaring example is most likely Puma Punku, near the shore of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, which hints at not only being several thousand years old, but also seems to have been achieved using what we would call high level machine technology.There are also many sites in Peru, and especially near the city of Cusco that also show the hall marks of having been made by cultures using technology supposedly not known by cultures such as the Inca.A massive collection of photographic and and detailed analysis is contained in this book, as well as on site observations by leading engineers, such as Christopher Dunn, author of the Giza Power Plant, and acclaimed author and engineer Arlan Andrews. Read more

Now in its third edition, Latin America since Independence explores the region’s rich and diverse history through carefully selected stories, primary source documents, maps, and tables that offer a diverse approach to dominant historical narratives. While histories of the "other" Americas often link disparate histories through revolutionary or tragic narratives, this text begins with the assumption that our efforts to imagine a common past for nearly thirty countries are deeply problematic. Without losing sight of chronology or regional trends, the book offers a distinctive conceptualization of the region as a diverse social landscape with a multiplicity of peoples and voices. Each chapter introduces students to a specific historical issue, which in turn raises questions about the history of the Americas as a whole. Key themes include:Race and Citizenship Inequality and Economic Development Politics and RightsForeign Interventions Social and Cultural Movements Globalization Violence and Civil Society The EnvironmentChapters also include timelines highlighting important dates and suggestions for further reading. This third edition has been updated throughout and includes a new Chapter 9 that discusses foreign intervention in Central America, and new text on the drug wars, resource extraction, and indigenous self-determination.Richly informative and highly readable, Latin America since Independence provides compelling accounts of this region’s past and present that will be of interest to students of Latin American history and society. Read more

This biography of Beatriz Allende (1942–1977)―revolutionary doctor and daughter of Chile’s socialist president, Salvador Allende―portrays what it means to live, love, and fight for change. Inspired by the Cuban Revolution, Beatriz and her generation drove political campaigns, university reform, public health programs, internationalist guerrilla insurgencies, and government strategies. Centering Beatriz’s life within the global contours of the Cold War era, Tanya Harmer exposes the promises and paradoxes of the revolutionary wave that swept through Latin America in the long 1960s.Drawing on exclusive access to Beatriz’s private papers, as well as firsthand interviews, Harmer connects the private and political as she reveals the human dimensions of radical upheaval. Exiled to Havana after Chile’s right-wing military coup, Beatriz worked tirelessly to oppose dictatorship back home. Harmer’s interviews make vivid the terrible consequences of the coup for the Chilean Left, the realities of everyday life in Havana, and the unceasing demands of solidarity work that drained Beatriz and her generation of the dreams they once had. Her story demolishes the myth that women were simply extras in the story of Latin America’s Left and brings home the immense cost of a revolutionary moment’s demise. Read more

Zócalo Public Square’s 10 Best Books We Read This Year, 2014How the game of soccer became a part of everyday life and national identity in Latin AmericaGet ready for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics—both held in Brazil—with the story of Latin America’s most popular sport. Fútbol! explains why competitors and fans alike are so fiercely dedicated to soccer throughout the region.From its origins in British boarding schools in the late 1800s, soccer spread across the globe to become a part of everyday life in Latin America—and part of the region’s most compelling national narratives. This book illustrates that soccer has the powerful ability to forge national unity by appealing to people across traditional social boundaries. In fact, author Joshua Nadel reveals that what started as a simple game played a seriously important role in the development of Latin American countries in the twentieth century. Examining the impact of the sport in Argentina, Honduras, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and Mexico, Nadel addresses how soccer affects politics, the media, race relations, and gender stereotypes.With inspiring personal stories and a sweeping historical backdrop, Fútbol! shows that soccer continues to be tied to regional identity throughout Central and South America today. People live for it—and sometimes kill for it. It is a source of hope and a reason for suicide. It is a way out of poverty for a select few and an intangible escape for millions more. Read more

Information about this SALAR DE UYUNI BOLIVIA picture book.40 full size beautiful color images.This is perfect gift for all ages from kids, adults and seniors.Very enjoyable for patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia or memory loss.More about this book:The book has 40 full page full color photos (more than double compared to other picture book).This book does not mention anything about Alzheimer’s, dementia, memory loss or anything else.It is strictly composed of interesting facts about the topic of the book as well as full page pictures. So this book is perfectly safe to buy, send and present coffee table size dimension book which is 8.5”x11” (inches). Some other authors print small books at only 6”x9”, but we wanted to be able to print larger images, as well as not having to crop out so much detail of an image.This is a softcover edition which is easy to take with and have in a bag. It also makes for a great birthday gift or Christmas present . Read more

In the middle of South America, where the majesty of the Andes Mountains touches the sky, stories have grown for hundreds of years. Welcome to the world of Bolivian folklore, where gods, humans, spirits, and the natural world all mix in a beautiful dance of stories. "Bolivian Mythology: Unveiling the Mysteries of the Andes" takes you on a fascinating journey through Bolivia's spiritual landscape, showing the hidden gems of its folklore and belief systems.The first story in Bolivian mythology is about the beginning of the world when the god Viracocha comes out of the waters of Lake Titicaca. Explore the story of how the Andean universe came to be and how the holy landscapes of the Altiplano and the valleys were made. Learn about the gods and goddesses of Bolivia, like the respected sun god Inti and the kind earth goddess Pachamama. Please find out how they affect the lives of Bolivians by affecting farming, the weather, and how people turn out. Find out how Bolivian myths live on in the modern world, in things like writing, art, music, and dance. Meet some of the modern singers who keep adding to Bolivian folklore. Read more

In 1857, Captain William Lewis Herndon sacrificed his life trying to save 600 passengers and crew when his ship foundered in a hurricane off the Carolina coast. Memorialized in Gary Kinder's best-selling book Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea, Herndon, with this final courageous act, epitomized a lifetime of heroism. Seven years earlier, the secretary of the Navy had appointed Herndon to lead the first American expedition into the Amazon Valley. Herndon departed Lima, Peru, on May 20, 1851, and arrived at Para, Brazil, nearly a year later, traveling 4,000 miles by foot, mule, canoe, and small boat. He cataloged the scientific and commercial observations requested by Congress, but he filed his report as a narrative, creating an intimate portrait of an exotic land before the outside world rushed in. Herndon's report so far surpassed his superiors' expectations that instead of printing the obligatory few hundred copies for Congress, the secretary of the Navy ordered 10,000 copies in the first print run; three months later, he ordered 20,000 more. Herndon described his adventures with such insight, such compassion and wit, and such literary grace that he came to symbolize the new spirit of exploration and discovery sweeping mid-nineteenth-century America. For the next hundred years, Herndon's report languished out of print before being revived briefly in 1951. Now, for the first time in nearly fifty years, Gary Kinder and Grove Press bring to readers one of the greatest chronicles of travel and exploration ever written. Read more

El libro describe con detalle la biografía humana y política del Che. Su asma recurrente y perpetua, sus deseos de combatir la injusticia, la lucha por la igualdad de los pueblos, su pelea frente al imperialismo yanki, incluso sus diferencias con los líderes de la URSS. Escrito con detalle y agilidad, este libro recorre la infancia, juventud, combates, decisiones transcendentales, familia y amores de este icono de la izquierda mundial. No es una biografía al uso. Se trata de un libro ameno, escrito con brillantez literaria que aporta nuevos datos gracias a la minuciosa investigación que el autor ha llevado a cabo con mujeres y hombres que conocieron al Che y con documentos descatalogados de la CIA. Read more

Now fully updated to 2009, this acclaimed history of Latin America tells its turbulent story from Columbus to Chavez. Beginning with the Spanish and Portugese conquests of the New World, it takes in centuries of upheaval, revolution and modernization up to the present day, looking in detail at Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Cuba, and gives an overview of the cultural developments that have made Latin America a source of fascination for the world. 'A first-rate work of history ... His cool, scholarly gaze and synthesizing intelligence demystify a part of the world peculiarly prone to myth-making ... This book covers an enormous amount of ground, geographically and culturally' Tony Gould, Independent on Sunday Read more

"He llegado a los 39 y se acerca inexorablemente una edad que da que pensar sobre mi futuro guerrillero; por ahora estoy 'entero'."—Che Guevara, 14 de junio de 1967Esta nueva edición del diario del que sería el último año del Che Guevara, detalla los esfuerzos del Che por dar inicio a una insurrección guerrillera contra el gobierno militar de Bolivia. El diario fue hallado en su mochila al ser capturado por el ejército boliviano en octubre de 1967. Esta nueva revisión incluye el texto de Fidel Castro “Una introducción necesaria”, en el que saca a la luz las mentiras incluidas en una edición anterior preparada por la CIA, con el objetivo de desacreditar al Che, la expedición boliviana y a la revolución cubana misma. El Diario de Che en Bolivia nos revela a un Che más viejo, más experimentado, con su salud mermada, distinto al juvenil y exuberante del Diario de Motocicleta escrito quince años antes, o  del implacable y maduro Pasajes de la Guerra Revolucionaria: Congo, de apenas dos años antes. Aquí habla con punzante ironía al narrar los desafíos cotidianos encarados por su pequeño grupo guerrillero, los pronunciamientos del gobierno militar, así como las acciones de la enorme fuerza militar que los atacaba. La última anotación describe el día previo a la captura del Che, apenas dos días antes de su muerte. Read more

The story of cocaine isn't just about crime and profit; it's about psychoanalysis, about empire building, about exploitation, emancipation, and, ultimately, about power. To tell the story of the twentieth century without reference to this drug and its contribution is to miss a vital and fascinating strand of social history. Streatfeild examines the story of cocaine from its first medical uses to the worldwide chaos it causes today. His research takes him from the arcane reaches of the British Library to the isolation cells of America's most secure prisons; from the crackhouses of New York to the jungles of Bolivia and Colombia. Read more