In 1952 Bolivia experienced a profound social, economic and political revolution, one of the very few such revolutions which have occurred in Latin America.

This book attempts to place in historical perspective the evolution of Chilean rural society from its foundation in the sixteenth century to 1975.

This book covers the years from the breakdown of the Spanish Empire in America to the stabilisation of the new republic of Chile.

This book, originally published in 1987, is a socio-cultural analysis of a tropical belle epoque: Rio de Janeiro between 1898 and 1914. It relates how the city's elite evolved from the semi-rural, slave-owning patriarchy of the coffee-port seat of a monarchy into an urbane, professional, rentier upper crust dominating the centre of a 'modernising' oligarchical republic. It explores such varied topics as architecture, literature, prostitution, urban reform, the family, secondary schools, and the salon. It evokes a milieu increasingly marked by Europe, demonstrating how French and English...

This book emphasizes that the Spanish empire remained the third most important European state in terms of fiscal income and naval power, and first in size of territorial empire, particularly because of its colonies in Spanish America. The Spanish crown was involved in four wars with Great Britain and two wars with France during the decades 1760-1810. Colonial Mexico financed most of these wars by remitting silver in the form of taxes and loans. The expenditures of the imperial wars were so great that they eventually caused the bankruptcy of both the Spanish American colonies and of the...

This 1974 book provides an institutional and historical analysis of the Brazilian Church, focusing in particular on its political role in relation to the state and society. There is a great interest in the Catholic Church in Latin America, both as an institution and as a progressive social force. The author pays special attention to the part played by the Church in the 'Brazilian Revolution' before 1964. By analyzing its internal reactions to changes in the external political order, he explains why the Church regressed after 1964 and from this develops an explanation of how change took place...

The Indian nobility of the Andes--largely descended from the Inca monarchs and other pre-conquest lords--occupied a crucial economic and political position in late colonial Andean society, a position widely accepted as legitimate until the Tupac Amaru rebellion. This volume traces the history of this late colonial elite and examines the pre-conquest and colonial foundations of their privilege and authority. It brings to light the organization and the ideology of the Indian nobility in the bishopric of Cusco in the decades before the rebellion, and uses this nobility as a lens through which to...

In 1823 and 1824, the newly independent government of Mexico entered the international capital market, raising two loans in London totaling 6.4 million. Intended to cover a variety of expenses, the loans fell into default by 1827 and remained in default until 1887. This case study explores how the loan process worked in Mexico in the early nineteenth century, when foreign lending was still a novelty, and the unexpected ways in which international debt could influence politics and policy. The history of the loans, the efforts of successive governments in Mexico to resume repayment, and the...

In this work, Roberto Cortes Conde describes and explains the decline of the Argentine economy in the 20th century, its evolution, and its consequences. At the beginning of the century, the economy grew at a sustained rate, a modern transport system united the country, a massive influx of immigrants populated the land and education expanded, leading to a dramatic fall in illiteracy. However, by the second half of the century, growth not only stalled, but a dramatic reversal occurred, and the perspectives in the median and long term turned negative, and growth eventually collapsed. This work...

Warfare and Shamanism in Amazonia is an ethnographic study of the Parakana, a little-known indigenous people of Amazonia, who inhabit the interfluvial region in the state of Para, Brazil. This book analyzes the relationship between warfare and shamanism in Parakana society from the late 19th century until the end of the 20th century. Based on the author's extensive fieldwork, the book presents first-hand ethnographic data collected among a generation still deeply involved in conflicts. The result is an innovative work with a broad thematic and comparative scope."